Frequently Asked Questions - Copyright Owners

• If I own copyright what are my rights?
• Do I need to be registered with an organisation to be protected by copyright?
• How do I let people know my work is protected?
• What does 'assignment' of my copyright mean?
• I am being asked to give up my rights in order to get my work published - what can I do?
• What is licensing?
• What else should I be aware of?
• What are my moral rights?

If I own copyright what are my rights?

Copyright owners have a number of exclusive privileges or rights. These rights include the ability to:

• control when a work will first be made public, and by whom;
• determine how widely a work is to be distributed;
• enforce corrections to their work;
• ensure attribution of the work; and
• terminate further reproduction of their material if, for any reason, they wish to do so.

These rights have been extended to include the right to first communication of a work through the Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act.

Rights vary depending on the type of work and subject matter of copyright. The table below provides some general guidance on the rights available.

Do I need to be registered with an organisation to be protected by copyright?

While it is not a requirement that copyright ownership be registered, it is wise to note on your work that it is copyright protected.

How do I let people know my work is protected?

© Joe Bloggs, 2000.

Traditionally, for hard copy publications, the copyright notice appears on the inside of the front cover or within the first few pages of the publication. It is common practice, in the case of material published electronically, for the copyright notice to appear under its own heading, either at the start of the document or at the end. For both paper and electronic versions additional information can be provided such as specifying under what terms reproduction of the material is permitted or acknowledging that separate copyrights exist. For example:

© The Australian National University, 2000. Permission is given to copy material for which the Australian National University holds copyright, provided credit is given, and the copies are not intended for sale.

or

© The Australian National University, 2000. Permission is hereby granted to use this document for personal use and in courses of instruction at educational institutions provided that the article is used in full and this copyright notice is reproduced. Permission is also given to mirror this document on WorldWideWeb servers. Any other usage is expressly prohibited without the express permission of The Australian National University.

or

© Joe Bloggs 2000. Copying in excess of rights otherwise established under copyright law is permitted, without individual permission or payment of a fee, provided that copies are made or distributed for non-profit purposes and credit is given for the source. Abstracting with credit is permitted.

or

© Joe Bloggs 2000. This publication is protected by copyright and may be used as permitted by the Copyright Act 1968 provided appropriate acknowledgement of the source is published. The illustrations and certain identified inclusions in the text are held under separate copyright and may not be reproduced in any form without the permission of the respective copyright holders.

These are examples only, a copyright notice appropriate for your work may need to be adapted. If you need further advice or assistance contact your local Copyright Contact Officer or the Copyright Officer.

What does 'assignment' of my copyright mean?

I am being asked to give up my rights in order to get my work published - what can I do?

Some sites of relevance on this issue that you may wish to refer to are:

• Issues in Scholarly Communication (US Association of Research Libraries)
• CopyOwn (University of Maryland)

It should be noted that there are other ways in which a work can be published without the copyright owner transferring ownership - one of the most widely used is licensing.

What is licensing?

It is advisable for the licence to be in writing, in the form of a contract. By putting the contract in writing the parties identify the terms of the contract which should help to avoid later misunderstandings about what was agreed.

What else should I be aware of?

Therefore, when submitting work on a speculative basis it is advisable to include a covering letter to the publisher outlining either the terms on which you are offering a licence to publish, or explaining that the work is submitted for the publisher's consideration only. If the publisher is interested, they should contact you to negotiate the terms.

What are my moral rights?

Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000, which amends the Copyright Act 1968 came into force on 21 December 2000. The Act introduces, for the first time, comprehensive moral rights protection in Australia for authors of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and film-makers.

The Act expressly implements two moral rights that are separate and distinct from the economic rights outlined above. They are the right of attribution of authorship - to be named in connection with one's work, and the right of integrity of authorship - the right of an author to object to treatment of a work that demeans their reputation.

Moral rights remain with an author, even though he or she may have transferred copyright in the work concerned to another person. Generally, moral rights will last as long as the copyright in the work concerned.