School Libraries and Information Literacy FAQs
Copyright
Where can I find current information about copyright?
Copyright is an issue which affects the whole school. As a teacher librarian you may have direct responsibility for ensuring that copyright guidelines are not breached. The updated section on Copyright in the Handbook for school libraries has further information on this complex issue. The national Smart copying site is also a comprehensive source of information and where all schools can access the National copyright guidelines.
Can schools hire commercial videos and/or DVDs?
The Australian Video Retailer’s Association (AVRA) has stated that most video rental shops will accept the membership of a school and will allow schools to hire videos and/or DVDs for educational purposes. The school must identify itself in joining the rental outlet. No additional charge can be made to view videos and/or DVDs used in this context as the Copyright Act contains a special provision which allows schools to ‘perform’ certain types of copyright material in class. This provision extends to screening films as part of the course of education in class. For more information please seeon the Performance and Communication in Class Provision information sheet.
Can taped television programs be shared between different campuses of the same school without breaching copyright?
The Part VA Screenrights licence for schools permits schools to copy radio and television programs for educational purposes. Under this licence schools are permitted to make a copy of a broadcast on behalf of another school, however, loaning copies is not permitted. NSW Department of Education and Training operates under a ‘sampling’ agreement with Screenrights, which means that unless the school is actually participating in the sample at the time these duplicate copies are made, it would not need to report them to Screenrights.
If sheet music was purchased in 1980, do schools follow the 2002 copyright guidelines, or can schools copy the sheet music according to the rules as they were in 1980?
All government schools and most non-government schools are covered by the AMCOS music licence for schools. If the music is sheet music, the copy(ies) can be made within the limits permitted under that licence. The number of copies that can be made varies for primary and secondary schools. The applicable law will be the current one, not 1980. For further details on this licence, refer to the AMCOS website.
Is permission required for the inclusion of an image (in this case, a book cover of a book being read by students) in a photograph?
The cover can be clearly seen, although the entire cover is not visible. Generally, if the image being reproduced is incidental to the subject of the photo, then reproduction of it will not infringe any copyright and no permission is required. An example of this would be if a photograph of a group of students and/or teachers in an article about reading also included a book cover, then copyright would not be infringed. If, however, the cover is the main, or a substantial part of the photo, then it might be infringing and permission should be obtained.
Is it permissible to make a copy of an audio book prior to borrowing and then loan out the copy and retain the original in case of damage?
Making a copy of an audio book on either cassette tape or CD, will depend on whether there are licence conditions attached to the resource, but in general it will not be possible to make copies of these resources.
If the original tape or CD, as supplied by the publisher, was supplied pursuant to a licence or other agreement which defined subsequent use of the tape or CD, including permission to make additional copies, then it may only be copied as per that licence or agreement. The permission in the licence or agreement must be express: in other words, it must clearly state that permission is granted for the educational institution to make (for example), a back-up copy, or additional copies for classroom use. The licence or agreement must have been brought to the attention of the purchaser (the school) at the time or immediately prior to purchase. It is in effect, a contract, so the normal provisions of the Copyright Act will not apply.
If the original tape or CD was simply purchased from an educational supplier or bookshop without any express licence, agreement or contract provisions, then the CD could only be copied within the scope of the Copyright Act Part VB provisions for educational institutions, which would allow for up to 10% or one chapter of the published work to be copied in electronic form.
The only other time a school would be permitted to make a copy of an audio book is if the copy is made in line with the new flexible dealing provisions which permit format shifting in limited circumstances. Before relying on this provision schools must go through a series of checks. For more information see the format shifting information sheet.
Electronic materials and copyright? What can I do?
The electronic materials chart, which you can print out on A3 paper, provides simple, clear guidelines.
Photocopying and copyright? What can I do?
The photocopying and copyright chart, which you can print out on A3 paper, provides simple, clear guidelines.
What are some copyright considerations for students undertaking independent study and research?
Scenario One: Students obtain copyright material on their own to as part of their research and study for school
In general, students can rely on something called fair dealing when using extracts of copyright material as part of their own research or study for school. This is something that is free (i.e. no royalties payable) and is written into the copyright act (otherwise students would be infringing copyright each time they photocopied or printed something). The only catch is that the person doing the research/study needs to be the person doing the actual copying; so teachers cannot rely on it to make multiple copies of materials for their students’ research or study. Fair dealing allows students to copy and communicate:
· one chapter or 10% of the number of pages of a published text or printed music
· one article from a newspaper, magazine or journal.
When dealing with something like images you obviously can't just use 10%, so instead students have to decide whether the use is fair or not. In most cases, student use of images will be fine. An appropriate citation of the source should be made. If you would like information on Fair Dealing then please refer to the Smart copying site.
What are some considerations when teachers direct students to particular sites and resources?
Scenario Two: Teacher directs students to particular materials to use for work in class
When a teacher is directing students to particular materials, this is not considered fair dealing but falls under one of the licences which the Department has negotiated on behalf of schools and pays for centrally. Again, here you are generally dealing with 10% or one chapter of a work. However, this will depend on the type of material and the format it is copied in. There are five licences in total, which can get quite complicated for schools but the best way for teachers and teacher librarians to get their head around the licences is to start with the type of material they want to use and then investigate that particular licence. In brief, there are licences for schools to:
1. Copy print works (text and art): this covers books, newspapers, photographs, drawings and much, much more. Underneath this licence there are two sub-licences
a. Electronic use of materials (printing, emailing, scanning, projecting etc)
b. Photocopying
2. Licence to copy broadcasts from TV, radio and cable
3. Licence to record music
4. Licence to perform music
5. Licence to photocopy print music.
The main licence people tend to be interested in is the first one, so School Libraries has created two posters to attempt to simplify what you can do under this licence. Please find them attached as word documents via the links above. They are designed to be printed out on A3 and stuck above photocopies/printers etc, so feel free to do so!
Where can I find copyright free images?
If you want to forget the complications of fair dealing and the above five licences you can look at using what is referred to as free for education materials. The updated section on Copyright in the Handbook for school libraries has further information. See also the national Smart copying site.
When you are using these free for education materials you generally just need to attribute the copyright owner and you can forget the limits and rules of the licences. See the Creative Commons resources for schools information sheet.
© State of New South Wales through the Department of Education and Training, 2008. All rights reserved.
Conditions of use | Contact us
Report incorrect, out-of-date or missing information