Australian copyright law is contained in the Copyright Act of 1968, which protects original creative works by giving the creator exclusive rights over copying, distribution, and performance. Exceptions like fair dealing allow limited use of copyrighted materials for educational purposes like research and study. Fair dealing permits students to use a reasonable portion of a work, defined as 10% of a text or one article from a publication. Works in the public domain that are over 70 years past the creator's death are also freely usable but must still be cited. The document provides guidelines for students on determining fair use of copyrighted materials in their studies.

1. Lynn Swannell 2014

2. Laws created to protect authors and artists
who create “original” works
Original works can only be copied,
performed in public, or published by the
creator - unless they give permission to
someone else to do this
That’s what it means to have the
right to copy (copyright)

3. Australian copyright law is contained in a
piece of federal legislation called:
The Copyright Act 1968
Amendments were made to this Act in 2000
to take into account the use of digital
technologies

4. Works that have not been written or
recorded (your stories, if they are not
written down, are not protected by copyright
law)
Ideas, procedures, methods, discoveries
Works that contain no original authorship (for
example: standard calendars, height and
weight charts, tape measures and rulers,
etc.)
Lists of data (such as the telephone book)
Items within the ‘public domain’ – generally
70 years after the death of the creator
Facts

5. Students are exempted from
some of this through the use of
”FAIR DEALING”
for educational purposes

6. “Fair Dealing” exceptions allow students
to use copyright works for their studies,
within limits
That means that students can reproduce a
limited amount of copyright material for
the purposes of research or study

7. Sometimes, it is hard to know how
much of a copyrighted work you can
use.
The following guidelines may help
when knowing what is ‘fair dealing’

8. Use the smallest amount of:
TEXT – Book A ‘reasonable portion’ –
10% or 1 chapter
TEXT –
Periodical/Journal/
Magazine
One article within an issue
- or more if for different
research topics

9. If a work is published in electronic
form, a reasonable portion is not
more than 10% of the work, or one
chapter if applicable
Images used should preferably be
those with Creative Commons
Licenses and always cited

10. Some works are considered to be in the PUBLIC
DOMAIN and therefore are able to be used
without gaining permission under the following
circumstances:
If it is more than 70 years since the creator’s death
and copyright has therefore expired
Copyright has been forfeited by the creator/owner
Copyright does not apply
However it must still be ‘cited’ and attributed
to the creator within a bibliography

11. Some PUBLIC DOMAIN WORKS include:
Shakespeare’s plays
Jane Austen novels
The Bible
Music by classical composers such as Mozart,
Beethoven, Bach
Project Gutenberg – source of books in the public
domain

12. ‘About the licences’ (n.d.) (Internet) http://creativecommons.org.au/learn-more/
licences accessed 29 May 2011
‘Copyright – Cyberbee’ (n.d.) (Internet)
http://www.cyberbee.com/cb_copyright.swf accessed 28 May 2011
‘Copyright information for students’ (2010) (Internet)
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/management/governance/copyright/scho
ols/infostudents.htm accessed 28 May 2011
‘Copyright, privacy and cyber ethics’ (n.d.) (Interent)
http://debsplace.wikispaces.com/Copyright,+Privacy+%26+Cyber+Ethics
accessed 30 May 2011
‘Smart copying’ (n.d.) (Interent) http://www.smartcopying.edu.au/scw/go
accessed 29 May 2011