Copyright legislation provides a balance between rewarding creators for their works and ensuring reasonable access to those works. Under the Australian Copyright Act 1968, educators have the right to copy and communicate material, providing they follow the guidelines as prescribed in the Act.
Copyright is series of rights in certain creative material (literary works, artistic works, musical works, computer programs, sound recordings, films and broadcasts) which dictates how others can use, copy, scan, print, reproduce and reformat third party materials.
What is Copying and Communicating?
A copy is a reproduction of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works and includes printing, photocopying, scanning, downloading/saving a copy to a personal computer or device or personal cloud space and saving a copy in a digital format.
“Copying” of copyright material means:
- Photocopying
- Scanning
- Recording from TV or radio
- Downloading from the Internet
Communicating means making copyright material available online or electronically transmitting copyright material. This includes uploading material to a digital space for student access and use via password protected access such as:
- A shared drive/intranet (e.g. Microsoft 365); or
- Content or learning management systems (e.g. LEARN, Moodle, Blackboard Collaborate); or
- To a closed class area on an education platform (e.g. Google Classroom). Electronic transmission' includes emailing, streaming, or using an electronic reticulation system to share material (e.g., Libraries might have an electronic delivery system to transmit material centrally)
“Communication” of copyright material means:
- Distribution of hardcopy reproductions of the material
- Electronic transmission (e.g., as an email attachment, distribution on USB)
- Inclusion in a PowerPoint
- Online availability that is password protected (e.g. make a copy available in TAFE SA LEARN (Moodle) so that staff or students can access it)
“Educational purposes of TAFE SA” means that you must be:
- Using the copied or communicated material to teach students
- Making the copy available to students, or communicating it to students, as part of a course of study at TAFE SA
- Retaining a copy in the TAFE SA library or elsewhere (e.g., a staff member holds a copy) as a teaching resource; or
- Using it in the administration of students and courses.
You may copy or communicate material if:
- TAFE SA owns the copyright to the material
- The copying is done for educational purposes, and the amount copied is a reasonable portion, staff members can rely on the provision of Section 113P of the Copyright Act 1968 for their teaching.
- Someone supplied it to TAFE SA with an express licence to copy and/or communicate it.
- You’ve obtained written permission from the Copyright owner. You may only copy or communicate the work within the limits the copyright owner has set.
- As a teacher or staff in school, it is for the proposed uses below covered under s 200AB:
1. Is not covered by an existing licence or exception
2. Is for the purpose of educational instruction and is not for profit
3. Is not "unreasonable”
Electronic Copying or Communication Limits
For electronic copying or communication for educational purposes, a reasonable portion of a work may be copied or communicated. As a guide, a reasonable portion is generally no more than 10% of a publication e.g.:
- 1 article from a journal of 10 articles,
- 1 chapter of a book with 10 Chapters,
- 10 pages of a 100-page publication,
- or 10% of the total words of an electronic publication.
A reasonable portion still requires you to carefully check any other copyright requirements.
TAFE SA and Statutory Licences
TAFE SA is licensed under the Copyright Act 1968 to make copies of copyright material, and communicate it, for educational purposes.
TAFE SA DOES NOT have a:
- Statutory (ScreenRights) licence to copy broadcasts (radio, television, cable, satellite and podcasts of broadcasts).
- Statutory (APRA/AMCOS/PPCA) licence to copy or use music (sheet music, playing and performing music, recording music, copying sound recordings, copying lyrics, rearranging music, music in MP3 format, download music from iTunes, playing music for the public such as in Hair & Beauty salons, Restaurants)
For guidelines about accessing any TV or Radio broadcasts or Audio-visual without a ScreenRights licence please refer to: https://www.smartcopying.edu.au/information-sheets/tafe/use-of-television-programs-and-film-by-tafe-institutes-without-a-screenrights-licence
Register of Permissions
If the Copyright Owner has provided permission for TAFE SA to use their material, or you have a licence to use copyrighted material (e.g., music licence) please store permissions with your Workgroups quality assurance documentation (e.g. with the TAS).
Copyright Quick References
The National Copyright Unit (NCU) is the specialist copyright team responsible for Copyright policy and administration for Australian schools and TAFE. The Smartcopying Website has been developed to provide a comprehensive guide to copyright issues affecting schools and TAFE.
Other useful resources include:
Audit of Copyright
TAFE SA is member of the National group of TAFEs called CAG TAFE. CAG TAFE negotiates the Educational Statutory Copyright licences on behalf of TAFE SA. TAFE SA pays an annual fee for a CAL licence but must also meet certain audit requirements.
Periodically, TAFE SA is required to participate in a monitoring system to provide data of its copying that helps ensure creators of copyright material are adequately compensated. The results of the audit are only used to enable the National Copyright Unit to negotiate the rate of payment to Copyright Australia Limited.
TAFE SA is audited in two ways to check use of copyright:
- Central Print Monitoring System Audit (CPMS)
This audit will require the main TAFE SA print supplier to access all print jobs undertaken by TAFE SA in order to evaluate use of copyright material for educational use.
- Electronic Use System
This audit will require the auditing of the main TAFE SA learning management system (LEARN) and learning repository (SharePoint/QES) to evaluate use of copyright material for educational use.
Educational staff are reminded that material not produced or owned by TAFE SA needs to be used according to the Smartcopying website guidelines. Incorrect use of copyright material significantly adds to the total combined licence fee paid by Australian TAFEs.
Information for Staff
This page is simply an overview and does not constitute legal advice.
For guidance about Copyright within any TAFE across Australia please consult the Smartcopying Website.
For specific legal advice regarding Copyright at TAFE SA please contact the Legislation and Delegations Unit.
Professional Learning
- Copyright 4 Educators online course
The National Copyright Unit facilitates a free online course for Educators who are interested in learning about Australian educational copyright, copyright compliance strategies, creative commons (CC) and Open Educational Resources (OER).
- National Copyright Webinar Series
The National Copyright Unit (NCU) offered a series of free webinars to help teachers navigate copyright while teaching. These free webinars are open to all Australian schools and TAFEs (excluding Victorian TAFEs) and are targeted to teachers and teacher-librarians/librarians
- Back to Basics – Copyright for Educators
A 15-minute overview of Copyright is available via Lumitt.
The content of this Webpage was adapted from the National Copyright Unit, Copyright Advisory Groups (Schools and TAFEs), Smartcopying Website and the Creative Commons Australia Website both licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.
