Copyright for Students

The Copyright for Students page provides a basic summary of how the Copyright Act impacts students' activities at UWA.  It is intended as a general guide only and is not exhaustive. You should seek clarification of specific concerns with University Library Officers or the University Copyright Officer. The following topics are dealt with in this page:

• Computer Programs
• Copying under 'Fair Dealing'
• Copying from the Internet
• Moral Rights
• Music (including P2P)
• Copying for Research or Study
• Copying from Television and Radio

Under provisions of the Copyright Act, students are able to reproduce copyright material without permission provided that the dealing is for research or study and that the copying is 'fair'. 

Research or Study

The Australian Copyright Council give the following guidance for a definition of Research or Study*:

'Research' means the diligent and systematic enquiry or investigation into a subject in order to discover facts or principles... ; and

'study' includes (1) The application of the mind to the acquisition of knowledge, as by reading, investigation, or reflection; (2) the cultivation of a particular branch of learning, science, or art...(3) a particular course of effort to acquire knowledge....(4) a thorough examination and analysis of a particular subject...

You do not need to be enrolled in a course - you could be researching or studying something for yourself.

Fair Dealing

The Copyright Act deems 'fair' to mean:

• an article in a periodical publication (eg., a journal or newspaper article);
• more than one article from a single edition of a periodical publication if the same subject matter; or
• a 'reasonable portion' (generally, 10% or one chapter if the work is a published edition of 10 pages or more; or 10% of the words if the work is in electronic form)

For works other than those listed above, or to copy amounts in excess of those listed above, for the copying to be 'fair' you should consider the factors below.

• The purpose and character of the dealing (eg., copying in connection with a course is more likely to be fair than copying for research which may be used commercially);
• The nature of the work (eg., it may be less fair to copy a work resulting from a high degree of skill than a mundane work);
• The possibility or obtaining the work within a reasonable amount of time at an ordinary commercial price (generally, it may be fair to copy all of a work such as a book, poem or a photo which is not available commercially, but unfair to photocopy all or most of a work that you can buy);
• The effect of the dealing on the potential market for, or value of, the work (eg., making more than one copy is less likely to be fair than making one copy); and
• The amount and substantiality of the part copied in relation to the whole work (it is less fair to copy a large or important part of the work than to copy a small or unimportant part).

If you copy less than 10% of the pages (or less than 10% of the words in electronic form) or one chapter, or one article in a periodical publication and you are sure that you meet the requirements of research or study then the copying is taken to be 'fair'.

You cannot use copies made under the fair dealing provisions for any other purpose. If you do, then the copies are infringing copies and penalties may occur. The copyright owner's permission is required for copying amounts over the above limits.

Under Moral Rights legislation (see below for definition of Moral Rights) you should always acknowledge the author and title of the work copied.

Music (including P2P /Peer-to-Peer copying)

Copyright in Music incorporates several distinct but related types of works, including the actual musical work or piece of music, sound recordings of the piece (eg on CD or cassette etc), and lyrics (literary work). A CD of your favourite band for example, will usually contain three categories of copyright material - literary works (lyrics), musical works (the piece of music) and the sound recording of the music and lyrics.

The University now has available for staff and students, a music licence agreement with the Australian Music Collecting Societies that allows the reproduction of music for educational purposes under certain conditions. The Licence permits the copying of music by students for research and study, however, only original source CD's, LP's cassettes, etc can be used and various compiance requirements such as labelling and restrictions of use must be adhered to. Copying from unlawful or infringing copies of music is not covered by the Licence. Also, the Licence does not extend to copying music from, or uploading music to the Internet, or transmission by Email. For full details of the allowances and conditions under the Licence, go to the Music Licence page.

Music on the Internet may be protected by copyright. If the copyright owners have not given express permission to copy the material, by way of a written statement, then you will infringe copyright by reproducing the music, lyrics and sound recording onto a CD. The Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee have produced a resources paper called "Peer-to-Peer File Sharing: the Legal Landscape" that will help you understand the legal implications of this kind of activity (also see 'Internet' in this page for more information about copying from the Internet).

It should be noted that the use of university equipment and computer networks to copy and distribute music downloaded from the Internet is an infringement of copyright and breaches UWA's Computer and Software Use Regulations. This kind of activity is also attracting increased attention from recording industry groups. Recent action includes the filing of law suits against universities and individuals in both Australia and abroad.

Moral Rights

Moral rights are rights relating to a creator's reputation in connection with their work. You must give the creator of a literary, artistic, musical, dramatic work or computer program or film:

• the right of attribution - you should attribute a creator when you reproduce a work or film and it should be clear and reasonably prominent so that the person receiving a reproduction of the work of film will have notice of the creator's identity;
• the right of integrity - A creator's work should be respected and not subject to derogatory treatment by distorting it or modifying it, nor should you do somethng to a creator's work that is prejudicial to the reputation of the creator;
• the right of a creator not to have their work faslely attributed - A creator is entitled to take legal action if their work is falsley attributed to someone else.

Internet 

Students should be aware that material on the Internet maybe protected by copyright. The fact that it is on the Internet does not mean that it is "copyright free" or that there is an implied licence to copy. Some websites give permission for the material to be copied for certain purposes (eg. educational and non-commercial purposes). You should always check the website for any such statement.

You should be aware that material contained in any particular website may have been copied to the site in breach of copyright and that the website's creator might not own the copyright for, or have permission to post, all the material in the site. Care must be taken when seeking permission from any website creator to copy the material contained in the site.

Music on the Internet may be protected by copyright. If the copyright owners have not given express permission to copy the material, by way of a written statement, then you will infringe copyright by reproducing the music, lyrics and sound recording onto a CD. The Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee have produced a resources paper called "Peer-to-Peer File Sharing: the Legal Landscape" that will help you understand the legal implications of this kind of activity.

Using University equipment and computer networks in ways that infringe the Copyright Act is expressly forbidden under the University of Western Australia: Computer and Software Use Regulations.

Computer Programs

Computer programs are protected under the Copyright Act as 'literary works'.  A computer program is defined in the Copyright Act as "a set of instructions to be used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain result". It is not the function of the program that is protected but the set of instructions that constitute the program. Computer programs are subject to the same protection as other literary works, and also the same copying allowances under the 'fair dealing' provisions of the Act.

Besides reproduction allowances for research or study, the owner of a legitimate copy of a computer program can make a back-up copy to guard against loss of the original or if the original is rendered unusable. However, you can not make a back-up copy of a program if the program has built-in technological devices or 'locks' designed to block the making of copies of the program. You also can not make a backup copy from an infringing copy of a computer program.

These reproduction allowances only apply to computer programs and not to items such as computer games.

Students are subject to, and expected to abide by, the University of Western Australia: Computer and Software Use Regulations.  Students should familiarise themselves with these regulations.

Television and Radio

You may tape material from TV or Radio for the purposes of research or study providing the use is fair (See 'Fair Dealing' above for information about assessing 'fair'). Examples of fair use may be the taping of a current affairs program that is relevant to an essay you are preparing, or taping a feature film to study or compare lighting techniques, camera angles, etc.

(For further assitance or information contact the Copyright Officer)

* 'Copying for research or study' information sheet, © Australian Copyright Council, 2001