The Copyright Act does not stop staff and students from copying altogether, but it does impose rules regarding what, how much, and for what purposes you may copy works protected by copyright. You may copy material if:
- copyright in the material has expired; or
- you have written permission from all the relevant copyright owners; or
- your purpose falls within the fair dealing provisions or other exceptions in the Copyright Act; or
- your copying comes under the statutory licence provisions of the Copyright Act.
The amount you may copy under the fair dealing and statutory licence provisions depends upon why you are copying and the type of material you are copying. As a general principle, the fair dealing provisions apply to your own research or study; while the statutory licences apply to use in teaching or library resource provision.
The Copyright Act was amended in December 2006 to permit individuals to copy certain types of material solely for private and domestic use. These new 'private use' provisions do not apply to the University. If copies made by staff or students under these provisions are used for University purposes, they become infringing copies.
When you can communicate or perform material in public without permission is also governed by your purpose and intended audience. You communicate something to the public when you make it available online or electronically transmit it to the public.
You may communicate or perform material in public if:
- copyright in the material has expired; or
- you have written permission from all the relevant copyright owners; or
- your purpose falls within the fair dealing provisions or other exceptions in the Copyright Act; or
- your communication comes under the statutory licence provisions of the Copyright Act.
As a general rule, you cannot copy anything for publication, entertainment or sharing purposes, unless you have the copyright owner's permission. Likewise, you cannot publicly perform anything for entertainment purposes, unless you have the copyright owner’s permission.