Complying with Copyright - Teaching

Frequently Asked Questions

• What if I need to copy material for an examination?
• Can I e-mail an article to students so we can discuss it in class?
• What is the best practice under the new law: direct downloads by each student or placing a copy of the material on the website? What paperwork is involved with either method?
• As a lecturer, I've made 10% of a work available online for student use. Am I able to take down that 10% and make another 10% from the same work available?
• I am a lecturer, and a colleague teaching another subject has made 10% of a work available online. I would like to make a different 10% from that work available electronically for my students. Am I able to request the other lecturer's 10% be taken down and my portion be made available online?
• I have placed 10% of a work online for my students. I would like students to have access to a different 10% from the same work. Am I able to email this to students? Can I give the portion to students in hard-copy format?
• I would like to make different sections of a work available to my students online. Is it permissible to have non-consecutive sections of a work available online if the total amount is less than 10% of the entire work?

What if I need to copy material for an examination?

Literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works are able to be copied without infringement as part of a question to be answered in an examination, or in an answer to such a question. This exception applies to copies only, not communications.

Can I e-mail an article to students so we can discuss it in class?

Yes. But in the absence of permission from the copyright owner, you would be relying on the Part VB licence and would need to ensure that the electronic notice was included in the communication and access was restricted. The 10 per cent limit does not apply to articles, so the whole of the article may be copied and communicated.

What is the best practice under the new law: direct downloads by each student or placing a copy of the material on the website? What paperwork is involved with either method?

This question arises from a situation where the library subscribes to a journal which offers on-line, downloadable PDFs. Rather than point the students to the articles, the lecturer would like to copy the material and place it on the course website.

The answer here really depends on the agreement with the publisher. Some agreements may prohibit the lecturer from making a copy of the material and placing it on the site. Others may allow it.

If there is no express agreement to copy the material in this fashion from the publisher then you would be copying the material under the Part VB licence with CAL. This is fine provided that access is restricted and the copy contains an electronic notice in the prescribed form that appears either before or at the same time as the material appears on screen. As it is an article, the statutory limits do not apply.

There is no paperwork involved as the University is currently under a sampling agreement with CAL (until the end of 2002). The only time this copying and communicating would need to be reported is if we were being sampled.

However, you should also be aware that the Division of Information is implementing systems to ensure that the University meets its obligations in relation to the 12 month time limit and communication limits. This system may involve some degree of reporting such as entering details of the material being copied and communicated. 

As a lecturer, I've made 10% of a work available online for student use. Am I able to take down that 10% and make another 10% from the same work available?

No, you can't. Where one lecturer has made 10% available they cannot then take down that 10% and replace it with another 10% within twelve months.

I am a lecturer, and a colleague teaching another subject has made 10% of a work available online. I would like to make a different 10% from that work available electronically for my students. Am I able to request the other lecturer's 10% be taken down and my portion be made available online?

When one lecturer has made 10% available and another lecturer wants to make a further 10% from the same work available they can request that the original material be taken down and replaced. 

I have placed 10% of a work online for my students. I would like students to have access to a different 10% from the same work. Am I able to email this to students? Can I give the portion to students in hard-copy format?

No, you can't. If a lecturer wanted to make 10% of a work available online and email or give a hard copy of another 10% of the same work to their students, they would not be able to as they would have exceeded their 10% limit. 

I would like to make different sections of a work available to my students online. Is it permissible to have non-consecutive sections of a work available online if the total amount is less than 10% of the entire work?

No, it isn't. The 10% from a work must be consecutive or continuous. In other words, the 10% cannot be made up of a number of smaller extracts coming from different parts of the one work - they must be consecutive. For example, if Chapter One is less than 10% of the work and a lecturer wants to make Chapter One and the first part of Chapter Two available online they can do so, but if they want to make part of Chapter One, part of Chapter Two and part of Chapter Three available, they cannot as the pages will not be consecutive or continuous.