Copyright basics
The Commonwealth Copyright Act 1968 ("Copyright Act") provides the legislative framework in Australia for the copying and communication of creative, original work.
Copyright gives the copyright owner of original 'works' the exclusive right to, among other things, reproduce, publish, communicate, and adapt their material.
Works protected by copyright include almost all written materials in any material format including images, music, other sound recordings, and other visual media such as websites and movies.
In general, you cannot reproduce or distribute copyright materials without permission of the copyright holder. This includes:
Note that copyright is inherent in the production of a work. Therefore assume any work you come across is protected by copyright, and has restrictions on how you may use it.
Copyright attributes
For more information: An Introduction to Copyright in Australia / Australian Copyright Council
Copyright material may be used with the permission of the copyright owner.
Use of copyright material where permission of the copyright owner is not held can be undertaken in the following circumstances:
If you have a question relating to copyright please contact the Eastern Health Library Service at EHLS@easternhealth.org.au
Not because material is available to the public (e.g. on the internet) does it mean that it is in the "public domain" for copyright purposes.
Public domain in the context of copyright means that the rights in that material have been given to the public because:
You can use public domain work:
In Australia, copyright in material will generally expire 70 years after the death of the creator (if the work was made public in their lifetime).
However copyright duration rules have changed, so the above does not always apply.
The duration of copyright may differ in other countries.
More information
You can use copyright material with the permission of the copyright owner.
If you do not have permission from the copyright holder, the Copyright Act, permits limited use of copyright material under the Fair Dealing exceptions for the following purposes:
In each case, your use must be considered 'fair and reasonable'.
The Copyright Act defines fair and reasonable amounts as:
More information:
Creative Commons is a non-profit organisation and platform that provides creators with options to share their work so others may re-use it and build on the creativity.
This relies on a system of Creative Commons licenses.
When using Creative Commons material:
More information:
Creators of copyright material have exclusive rights over how their work is used, including control over the reproduction, publication and communication of the work.
The creator of a work may not own the copyright:
If copyright is owned by, or transferred to, a third party the creator of the work retains 'moral rights' over the work, including:
Moral rights cannot be transferred but the holder of the moral rights can consent to their moral rights being infringed, for example, by not having their work credited or for it to be attributed to their employer.
Intellectual property describes ideas, designs, formulas, improvements in processes and procedures.
Copyright is one form of intellectual property.
Other forms include patents and trademarks.
Intellectual property at Eastern Health is covered by the Intellectual Property practice guideline (link will only work via Eastern Health Network).
Refer to this guideline for information regarding intellectual property at Eastern Health.
There are many sites where you can find free to use resources.
These resources are in the public domain or openly licensed for free use.
Please note that it is best practice to attribute all resources you use.
Openly licensed images
|
|
© Eastern Health Library Service 2021-2023
