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Copyright Policy

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Section 1 - Purpose and Context

(1) Western Sydney University, as both a creator and user of copyright material, is committed to ensuring that all staff and students meet the legal obligations imposed by the Copyright Act, 1968 and all current copyright licence agreements which the University is a signatory to. This policy provides a framework for which all staff and students can make legitimate use of third party copyright material for educational, research and non-commercial purposes.

(2) This policy explains the University's expectations regarding the use of third party copyright material for educational, research and non-commercial purposes. It contains procedures and guidelines to inform and support staff, students and other members of the University community in minimising the risk of copyright infringement.

(3) Recording lectures provides the University with the ability to store learning resources and enables learners to access these resources at some time in the future. Copyright is a significant consideration when the University records lectures.

(4) This policy should be read in conjunction with its main supporting document, the Copyright Guide 2013, and other relevant University Policies.

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Section 2 - Definitions

(5) For the purpose of this Copyright policy and for the purpose of recording lectures:

  1. Copyright refers to the exclusive rights of reproduction, communication and performance granted by the Copyright Act, 1968 to the copyright holders of literary, dramatic works, musical and artistic works such as computer software, films, videos, sound recordings, broadcasts, photographs, web sites and images.
  2. Copyright holder refers to the person, group or organization that holds the copyright for the material.
  3. Third Party Copyright Material refers to copyright material not owned by the University
  4. vUWS refers to the Learning Management System, Blackboard used by the University for online learning.
  5. Recording software refers to the software used for capturing lectures and associated material.
  6. Reproduction refers to making copies of third party copyright material using any copying device and refers to the copying and capturing of lectures in a digital format. via recording software
  7. Communication refer to placing online third party copyright material and recorded lectures captured in a digital format via vUWS for student access as required.
  8. Copyright Licence Agreements refer to agreements that the University is legally obliged to meet
    1. the Part VA Statutory Licence
    2. The Part VB Statutory Licence
    3. The Voluntary Music Licence
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Section 3 - Policy Statement

General Principles and Obligations

(6) The University aims to conduct its educational, research and non-commercial activities in a manner that is compliant with the provisions of the Copyright Act, 1968 (the Act) and other copyright licence agreements currently in force.

(7) The University encourages and supports the legal use of third party copyright material to enhance its educational and research activities. The University does not condone the use of third party copyright materials that infringe copyright

(8) The University expects its staff and students to comply with all applicable legal requirements pertaining to copyright and to take appropriate action to minimise the risk of infringement whenever dealing with third party copyright material, for educational, research and or non-commercial purposes

(9) To comply, University staff and students must:

  1. ensure that the use of any third party copyright material at the University for educational , research or non-commercial purposes, complies with the provisions of the Copyright Act, 1968 (the Act) , the Statutory Licences and other copyright agreements currently in force;
  2. meet the moral rights provisions of the Copyright Act, 1968 (the Act)
  3. not use University equipment, facilities and services for purposes that infringe copyright;
  4. adhere to the procedures outlined in Section 4 of this document or with the procedures and guidelines contained in the Copyright Guide 2013 whenever dealing with third party copyright material;
  5. act on the University's Copyright Officer's advice to minimize the risk of copyright infringement.

Specific Legal Obligations

(10) In addition to the general obligations outlined above, University staff and community must comply with a number of key licences and provisions of the Copyright Act, 1968 (the Act).

(11) The following are the key licenses, negotiated between Universities Australia and Copyright Collecting Societies which staff must comply with when using third party copyright material at the University:

  1. Statutory Licenses:
    1. Part VB licence, an agreement with the Copyright Agency Limited, which allows for the multiple copying and communication of specific amounts of third party copyright material (print and graphics) for educational purposes; and
    2. Part VA licence, an agreement with Screenrights the audiovisual copyright society, which allows for the copying and communication of TV, radio, satellite and cable broadcasts.
  2. Commercial Music Licence:
    1. Music licence agreement which allows for the use of Music at the University events, Music-On-Hold, and certain copying and communication of sound recordings for educational and teaching purposes. The Music Licence is an a commercial agreement between Universities Australia and the following music societies, Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), Australasian Performing Right Association Ltd. (APRA), Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA), and Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA).

(12) The following are other key provisions of the Copyright Act, 1968, which impose obligations that impact on the use of third party copyright material at the University:

  1. Section 28 of the Copyright Act enables the University to perform (show) commercially hired or purchased audio-visual material or other material not covered by the Copyright Licence Agreements, and communicates this material for educational instruction.
  2. Section 200AB a special purpose exception in the Copyright Act may cover the capturing of small clips of commercially hired or purchased audio-visual material or other material not covered by the Copyright Licence Agreements.
  3. Fair Dealing for the purposes of Criticism or Review ,Research or Study and Parody or Satire.
  4. The right to make insubstantial copies.
  5. Copying for students with a Disability.
  6. Library provisions of the Copyright Act.

(13) Please Note: Australian Copyright Law does not have the concept of Fair Use, as in US Copyright Law.

(14) Consult the Copyright Guide 2013 for further advice or seek clarification from the University's Copyright Officer about any copyright matters.

(15) Breaches of this policy may be addressed through disciplinary procedures as detailed in the applicable employment agreements for staff, or the relevant misconduct policy for students.

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Section 4 - Procedures

Part A - Minimising the Risk of Copyright Infringement

(16) The procedures to use third party copyright materials in vUWS for educational purposes are briefly set out below and contained in the Copyright Guide 2013. They have been developed with a view to minimising the risk of copyright infringement.

Part B - Journal Articles, Book Chapters and Lecture Notes

University Library's Readings Direct Service and vUWS

(17) The University continues to develop systems to minimize the risk of copyright infringement. A significant part of this risk management strategy has been the development of the University Library's Readings Direct Service. Refer to the University's Copyright Guide.

(18) The University Library's Readings Direct Service provides centralized storage for all digitized readings required to be accessed by students, via vUWS during a Semester.

Please note lecture notes and learning resources with or without graphics, URLs to Websites and their associated material can be uploaded directly to vUWS.

(19) Material listed below must not be uploaded directly to vUWS or be made available generally:

  1. One Book chapter or 10% of the total pages of a book.
  2. One article from a single hardcopy journal issue that requires digitization.
  3. Two or more articles on the same subject matter from a single hardcopy journal that requires digitization.
  4. Downloaded PDFs of journal articles, book chapters, or epubs of e-books from the University Library's e- resources.

(20) The materials listed in in the above clause must be lodged for placement in the University Library's Readings Direct Service. Contact your School's Librarian or Readings Direct for assistance.

(21) For advice with using readings in vUWS, contact the University's Copyright Officer.

(22) Surveys of vUWS Unit sites by the University's Copyright Officer will occur occasionally through the year to determine the level of copyright compliance. External surveys occur every three to four years.

Part C - Using Broadcasts for Educational Purposes

Radio, Television, Cable and Satellite Broadcasts

(23) The Part VA Statutory Licence allows the copying and or communication of television, radio, cable and satellite broadcasts for educational purposes.

(24) Copies of broadcasts can be shown and captured in lectures or tutorials, and can be uploaded directly to vUWS with the Appropriate Part VA Electronic Copyright Notice:

Part D - Music Licence

(25) Universities Australia has entered into an agreement with the following music societies, Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), Australasian Performing Right Association Ltd. (APRA), Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA), and Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA).

(26) The music licence agreement covers the copying and communication of sound recordings for educational purposes.

(27) Copies of sound recordings can be shown and captured in lectures or tutorials, and can be uploaded directly to vUWS with the Appropriate Music Licence Electronic Copyright Notice.

Part E - Recording, Pre-Recording Lectures and Copyright

(28) Please refer to the Copyright Guide 2013, for advice on material that can be captured when recording lectures or pre-recording lectures.

Part F - Open Access and Copyright

(29) Open Access is the provision of freely available content that can be used freely in University Teaching and Research without the payment of fees, navigating paywalls and copyright restrictions.

(30) When designing Blended Learning Resources, MOOCS and other educational resources for a wider public audience, it is best to use Material that is freely available for sharing and distribution via Open Education Resources, Open Access Repositories and Material that is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence or similar licence.

(31) When designing Blended Learning Resources and other resources for University staff and students, it is best to use a variety of material that can be used under the Educational Licenses, which is available via the Library and Open Access content freely available on the Web.

(32) Open Access is an important consideration when publishing Scholarly articles based on publicly funded research.

(33) It is important to be aware of Australian Funder Mandates regarding Open Access.

(34) The University's Institutional Repository is the central digital repository of University Research outputs.

(35) It is important to consider the implications of the publisher's Copyright Transfer Agreement when publishing a scholarly work. SPARC has some useful information on the rights of authors.

Part G - Seeking Copyright Permission

(36) If permission is obtained to use third party copyright material from the copyright owner, this material can be uploaded directly to vUWS.

Part H - Designated Representative (Copyright) and Taking Down of Alleged Infringing Copyright Material

(37) The role of the University Designated Representative is to receive notifications and notices from third parties in relation to alleged copyright infringement. Details of the Designated Representative and an Infringing Copyright Material Notice are located on the University's Web Site

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Section 5 - Guidelines

(38) Consult the Copyright Guide 2013 for Guidelines or seek clarification from the University's Copyright Officer about any copyright matters.

(39) Guidelines concerning other Copyright Matters will be added to the University's Copyright Guide as required.