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Copyright Policy

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Section 1 - Purpose and Context

(1) This document sets out the University of Western Sydney policy with respect to copyright, for the guidance of staff (academic and general), students (undergraduate and postgraduate) and contractors. Matters considered in this policy include categories of materials protected by copyright, protecting the copyright of University materials and avoiding infringement of copyright within the University.

(2) At the University of Western Sydney (University), staff often use material that are protected by copyright in study guides and in material to support online units and teaching activities. While conducting research and other scholarly activities staff and students may also create works that can be protected by copyright.

(3) This policy should be read in conjunction with the Intellectual Property Policy and the IT Acceptable Use of Resources Policy.

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Section 2 - Definitions

(4) Nil.

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Section 3 - Policy Statement

Part A - What is Copyright?

(5) Copyright in Australia is governed by the Copyright Act (C'th). The Copyright Act describes copyright as the exclusive right to do, and authorise others to do specified acts in relation to works and other subject-matter for a limited term.

(6) Copyright regulation is intended to provide a balance between encouraging and rewarding creators and providing reasonable access by users to copyright material. The Copyright Act, 1968 has provisions that allow the use of copyright material in educational institutions and for purposes such as research or study and criticism or review without requiring copyright permission.

(7) The Copyright Act deals with "works" and "subject matter other than works". The category of works is defined to include literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, and copyright may subsist in such a work whether, published or unpublished, if it is original. Literary work is a broad term that includes any compilation of words, figures or symbols as well as computer programs or compilations of computer programs. Subject matter other than works comprises sound recordings, cinematograph films, television and radio broadcasts and published editions of works.

(8) Copyright gives the owner of copyright in literary, dramatic or musical works the rights to:

  1. reproduce the work in a material form,
  2. publishing the work,
  3. performing the work in public,
  4. communicating the work to the public,
  5. making an adaptation of the work, and
  6. doing, in relation to an adaptation of the work, any of the acts specified in (a) to (d) above.

(9) The exclusive rights in an artistic work are slightly more limited.

Part B - University's Obligations under the Copyright Act

Specific Licence obligations

(10) In addition to being bound by the general provisions of the Copyright Act, the University is also bound by the conditions of separate Statutory Licence Agreements ("Licences") that, pursuant to Part VA and VB of the Copyright Act allow certain reproduction and communication of print, graphic and broadcast materials for educational purposes. The 'educational purposes of the university' include:

  1. using it to teach students;
  2. making the copy available to students as part of a unit of study at the University of Western Sydney; and
  3. retention in the University library or elsewhere (by a staff member) as a teaching resource.

(11) The Licences represent agreement between the University and the two Copyright Collecting Societies: Copyright Agency Limited (print and graphic-both hardcopy and electronic use schemes) and Screen rights (audio-visual), who act on behalf of copyright owners.

General Obligations

(12) The Copyright Act also requires that the University, its staff and students;

  1. Ensure the use of any copyright material at the University, for educational or non-educational purposes, does not infringe copyright;
  2. Comply with the terms and conditions of computer software licences that a company computer software use within the University;
  3. Meet the fair dealing provisions of the Copyright Act. These provisions allow individuals to reproduce copyright material if the reproduction meets certain reasonable portion limits and is for the purpose of research, study, criticism or review;
  4. Meeting the moral rights provisions of the Copyright Act. Moral rights include the right of attribution of authorship, right not to have authorship falsely attributed and a right of integrity of authorship (which may include a right not to have work distorted or modified).

Part C - Avoiding Infringement of Copyright

(13) The University is permitted to use works where:

  1. The copyright in the works is owned by the University;
  2. The material is supplied to the University with an express licence to copy and/or communicate;
  3. The use is permitted by the Copyright Act (see Part D below);
  4. The owner of the copyright material permits the use (see Part E below); or
  5. The use falls within the University's Licences for copying and communicating print and graphic material (see Part G and H below).

(14) The University continues to develop systems to ensure that no infringement of copyright occurs and the conditions of its Licences are complied with. A significant part of this management is the development of the UWS Digital Repository for Copyright Materials.

Part D - Copying of Insubstantial Portions

(15) The Copyright Act allows multiple copies of an "insubstantial portions" of a work, to be copied or communicated for free in certain cases. The copying must be carried out at the University for the purpose of an education course provided by it.

(16) For a hard-copy work, no more than 2 pages can be copied in any edition of a work unless there are more than 200 pages in the edition and the total number of pages copied does not exceed 1% of the total number of pages in the edition.

(17) For a work in electronic form, no more than 1% of the total number of words can be copied.

(18) The exception cannot be relied on more than once in a 14 day period in relation to different parts of the one work.

(19) This exception does not apply to artistic or musical works.

Part E - Fair Dealing Exception

(20) Use of literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, or an adaptation of those works, for the purpose of criticism or review is not a breach of copyright, provided there is sufficient acknowledgement of the work copied. This does generally not apply to multiple copies of a work.

(21) The Fair Dealing provisions also apply to use of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, or an adaptation of those works, for the purpose of research or study. Despite the apparent breadth of this exception, it is generally limited only to personal research and does not apply to multiple copying.

Part F - Seeking Copyright Permission: Policy

(22) You should contact the Copyright Officer for a Copyright Permission Form, to allow the Copyright Officer to seek permission from the owner of the copyright if the use of materials protected by copyright:

  1. Is not for educational purposes,
  2. Falls outside the provisions of the Part VA and Part VB Licences;
  3. The amount of material to be copied or communicated exceeds the reasonable portion limits of 'fair dealing' (see Part D above); or
  4. The use of the material is for a wider public audience and/or for commercial purposes.

(23) The material must not be used unless written permission has been obtained.

Part G - Material on the Internet

(24) Material on the Internet is protected by copyright. In some cases, material on the Internet may be accompanied by an express permission or an implied permission to do certain things. The Internet is not a copyright-free zone. Staff and students should not assume that they are entitled to download everything you can access on the Internet as some material may be on the web without the copyright owner's permission.

Part H - UWS Digital Repository for Copyright Materials

(25) The Digital Repository for Copyright Materials provides centralised storage for all digital copyright material reproduced from either text or graphics in both print or electronic format required by students for Units and Courses of study.

(26) The Digital Copyright Repository was developed to ensure that the University of Western Sydney complies with the Copyright Act and its provisions regarding digitised copying and communication of copyright material for educational purposes.

(27) The Digital Copyright Repository is a university wide resource.

(28) Copyright material used for educational purposes must be lodged with the appropriate staff for uploading to the central Digital Repository for access via WebCT and or the Library's eReserve.

(29) Material stored in the Digital Repository server can be accessed via the Library's Electronic Reserve system, WebCT and other UWS Web sites that support Units of study.

Educational Uses

(30) If copyright material for educational purposes is included in a Unit Web site or any other UWS Web site without placement in the Digital Repository, the Copyright Officer will assess such material and, where appropriate, locate it to the digital Copyright Repository. In such instances, a URL will be sent which enables the linking of the document to the relevant site.

Non-educational Uses

(31) Copyright material that is to used for non-educational purposes, and linked to any UWS web site, is not covered by the Licences and must comply with the provisions of the Copyright Act (see Part C above).

Part I - Procedures for Lodgement of Copyright Materials for Educational Purposes into the Digital Repository

(32) Requests for material to be accessed only via the Library's eReserve should be submitted either in print or electronically to the nearest UWS Campus Library. If material is required to be linked to both eReserve and WebCT, please indicate accordingly to Library staff.

(33) Requests for material to be accessed only via WebCT and other UWS Web sites should be submitted electronically in PDF format to the Copyright Officer.

Part J - Digital Copyright Material

(34) The following categories of material must be lodged for placement into the Digital Copyright Repository:

  1. Material for Units which academic staff require students to access via the Library's eReserve.
  2. Material for Units which academic staff require students to access via WebCT and or other UWS Web sites.

(35) This material includes:

  1. Chapters from books
  2. Journal articles
  3. Lecture, Unit and Study guide notes that use substantial amounts of material from the works of other authors, such as text, photographs, diagrams, charts, graphs etc.
  4. Graphic material such as photographs, diagrams, charts, graphs, etc.

(36) Generally full text articles from databases to which the Library subscribes, will not be copied and communicated via the Digital Repository, however links to the databases and their contents can be provided by Library staff. These links will be placed in eReserve to enable seamless access for students using non-UWS internet service providers.

(37) Lecture notes, tutorial solutions and exercises etc that use insubstantial (e.g. less than 1%) amounts of material from other works can be placed directly into WebCT by the designer of the material, E-Learning support officers and/or into eReserve by library staff.

(38) Contact any UWS Library for further information.

Part K - Requirements for Submitting Materials

Hardcopy

(39) Hardcopy material e.g. photocopies must be:

  1. clear and clean with no blackened edges
  2. legible
  3. single sided and A4
  4. not altered or modified in any way
  5. clearly show identifiable features such as page numbers, headers and footers on each page.

(40) If sending original print items, the sender must indicate those pages requiring scanning.

Electronic Format

  1. The material is scanned into Adobe format (PDF Files)
  2. If the material is in alternate format, that it is converted into Adobe format
  3. That the file size is kept below 2MB
  4. The scanned file is a clean and clear copy of the original material, with no alterations or modifications, and clearly showing page numbers, headers and footers on each page

(41) If material is provided scanned into PDF format, the turnaround time of adding to the Digital Copyright Repository is reduced.

Part L - Part VA Licence: Audio-Visual Copying and Communication Procedures - Radio, Television, Cable and Satellite Broadcasts.

(42) Part VA of the Copyright Act contains a statutory licensing scheme for the copying and communication of broadcasts (television, radio, cable and satellite). Copying and or communication done in reliance on the provisions of Part VA will not infringe the copyright in a broadcast, or in any work, sound recording or cinematographic film included in a broadcast.

(43) As a result of an Agreement entered into by AVCC in July 2001, staff will no longer be required to keep full records of audio-visual copying unless UWS is in a sampling period. This is likely to be for a 6 or 12 week period once every 4 or so years.

Audio Visual Copyright Obligations

(44) Staff members are required to comply with the obligations below:

  1. Screening a film, playing a video, DVD and or sound recording for educational purposes are permitted subject to the specific membership agreement with the place of hire or loan.
  2. Purchased, hired or borrowed videos, DVDs or sound recordings must not be copied and or communicated unless UWS has permission to do so. This applies to the making of back up copies of purchased or hired videos, films, DVDs and sound recordings and to material which is no longer available for commercial purchase.
  3. Copies of radio, television, cable and satellite broadcasts must be made or communicated solely for the educational purposes of the University. Copies must not be sold or supplied to anyone for a profit.
  4. Material copied under fair dealing provisions [see clauses (19) and (20) above] such as for research or study and for criticism or review, must not be used for educational purposes.
  5. Ensuring that the moral rights of creators are not breached, by placing relevant credits on the copied material.

Audio Visual Copyright Procedures

(45) All staff and student are required to comply with the following procedures:

  1. With all copies made, either the CD-Rom, DVD, videotape or cassette and or its container must be marked with an appropriate label available from AV Services. Preview copies must be marked with the word "Preview". Material copied onto CD-Rom, DVD and or other electronic format must contain a copyright notice available from the Copyright Officer.
  2. Communication of material copied from radio, television, cable and satellite broadcasts via WebCT, the Library's electronic Reserve and other UWS web sites must be lodged with the Copyright Officer.
  3. All copied broadcast material must contain the relevant attribution. If a compilation is made from several programs, each item on the compilation must be appropriately attributed.

(46) If you have any questions or require further information please contact the Copyright Officer.

Part M - Part VB Licence: Hardcopy Copyright Material

(47) At the University, most staff would use and or create material that is protected by copyright on a regular basis in readers, study guides and other Unit Support material.

(48) Use of copyright material in readers and Unit support materials is covered by the Part VB "Hardcopy" Statutory Licence for reproducing hardcopy text, images and notated music when the reproduction is for the educational purposes of the University.

Hardcopy Copyright Obligations

(49) The reproduction and communication of copyright material for educational purposes is governed by the Licences that allow UWS to make multiple copies of material for student work.

Copying of Reasonable Portions

(50) The Copyright Act specifies that the following "reasonable portions" of a hard-copy work can be copied or communicated:

Books

  1. One chapter or 10% of the number of pages of a work, which ever is greater.
  2. More than 10% can be copied if the work is not commercially available within a reasonable time at an ordinary commercial price. Please contact the Copyright Officer for further assistance.
  3. The whole or part of a literary or dramatic work in a published anthology if not more than 15 pages.
  4. An artistic work with supporting text.
  5. A standalone artistic work if it is not separately published or is not commercially available within a reasonable time at an ordinary commercial price.

Journals

  1. One article per issue of a journal publication.
  2. Two or more articles can be copied from the same issue of a periodical publication, provided the articles relate to the same subject matter.

(51) Other limitations exist including compliance with the limitation of only 10% of a work being made available in digital form at any given time across UWS.

(52) If more than the above amounts are to be reproduced, that the appropriate written copyright permissions are obtained or that the material is verified by the Copyright Officer as not being commercially available within a reasonable time at an ordinary commercial price.

  1. That all material used is appropriately sourced and attributed.
  2. That appropriate copyright notices are used in the publication.

(53) If you have any questions or require further information please contact the UWS Copyright Officer.

Part N - Offshore Programs and Copyright

(54) The preparation of Books of Readings for UWS students enrolled in UWS Offshore Programs is governed by Part VB of the Copyright Act, 1968. Part VB is a Statutory Licence which enables UWS to copy and communicate text and images, within certain limits for the educational purposes of UWS.

(55) The Part VB licence applies only to copying and communication which takes place in Australia for Offshore Programs. If material is copied or placed on a server in the country where the Offshore Program is run, that copying and communication is governed by the copyright laws of that country. For example if a UWS course is run in Hong Kong, but the copying of the Book of Readings or the uploading of the readings to a local server takes place in Hong Kong, that copying falls under Hong Kong Copyright Law.

Part L - Offshore Programs Copyright Policy

(56) Material may be copied for and/or communicated to students enrolled at UWS for a UWS offshore program.

(57) If the material is being communicated to offshore students via WebCT or another UWS Website, the material must be uploaded to the UWS Digital Repository for Copyright Materials. A hypertext link to the readings in the Digital Copyright Repository will be provided, enabling enrolled UWS offshore students to access the readings.

Part O - Offshore Programs Copyright Procedures

(58) Refer to "UWS Digital Repository for Copyright Materials" in Part H - Text and Graphics for procedures when using the Repository or contact, UWS Copyright Officer for further information.

Part P - References

Legislation

(59) The copyright act can be accessed via the NSW Parliamentary Counsel's Legislation website .

(60) Copyright Act, 1968

Copyright Collecting Societies

(61) AMCOS
AMCOS administers authorisations for reproduction of musical works. AMCOS also provides guidelines on usage of print music.

(62) APRA
ARPA provides licenses for the broadcast of and public performance of copyright music and its transmission to cable service subscribers.

(63) Australian Copyright Council
An independent, non-profit organisation which offers a variety of publications on copyright matters.

(64) Copyright Agency Limited
CAL administers the educational copying PartVB statutory licensing scheme.

(65) Phonographic Performance Company of Australia Limited
Administers the licensing arrangements with regard to performance and broadcasting rights in sound recordings.

(66) Screen rights
Screen rights administers the PartVA Statutory Licence scheme that allows the copying of TV and radio broadcasts for educational purposes.

(67) VI$COPY
Copyright collecting society represents the interests of illustrators, designers, photographers, sculptors, craftspeople, printmakers and indigenous artists across Australia.

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Section 4 - Procedures

(68) Nil.

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Section 5 - Guidelines

(69) Nil.