Copyright law sets rules to support and reward the development of materials by creators and their associated industries. It covers materials produced in the areas of art, literature, music, films, broadcasts and computer programs.

protecting the original expression of their ideas; and
safeguarding their original works from copying and certain other uses.

Copyright law also looks after the interests of society by balancing a healthy market place for creative and intellectual work with access to and use of information more generally to advance our collective knowledge and endeavour.

In Australia copyright protection is free and happens automatically when you create something in material (physical) form, including material stored electronically.

If you are studying copyright law is supportive of you having reasonable access to information to benefit your course of study. What follows is a summary of this support.

Access to copyright materials

Fair dealing
When you photocopy from books, journals, newspapers and magazines, most students rely on the defence of fair dealing, under the Copyright Act. This defence basically sets out that in the situation when people want to use copyright material for “research or study”, provided this is fair to the copyright owner, it is acceptable under the law. In this context fair means that your use doesn”t compromise the economic interests of the owner.

The fair dealing provisions of the Copyright Act now include you making a reproduction of an article (or multiple articles dealing with the same subject matter) in a periodical publication, or a reasonable portion of a literary, dramatic or musical work, in electronic form, for the purposes of research of study.

The meaning of “reasonable portion” of a published literary or dramatic work in electronic form is generally taken as 10 per cent of the words in the work, or a chapter of the work, if it is organized in such a fashion. For hardcopy literary, dramatic and musical works, you can copy 10 per cent of the pages or up to one chapter.

Sometimes copying more than 10% still comes under the umbrella of fair dealing for the purpose of research and study. To know whether it does, you would have to look at the criteria in the Copyright Act set out in section 40 (2), or it might be easier to ask someone, such as librarian or a teacher.

As a guide a useful gauge is if you need to copy more than 10%, one chapter, or one article (unless on the same subject matter) for your study, you probably need to ask permission to copy more, or buy your own copy of the publication.

Usually you can include copyright material in essays you write or other material you need to hand in for your course (for example, any extracts from poetry or novels, quotes from critics or interviews, film or music grabs). Of course it is important that you attribute the person who created the material that you use, and this is now a legal requirement under moral rights.

Insubstantial Copying
You can also use “insubstantial parts” of copyright material for assignments, without risk of infringing copyright in both electronic and hardcopy material.

Of course working out what is an “insubstantial part” is not always easy. It is best to think of this concept not simply as a measure of quantity, but more importantly as a question of quality. Generally unless the part you use is quite small and relatively “unoriginal” you shouldn”t rely on “insubstantiality” as the basis for using copyright material.

Libraries and education institutions
There are also special provisions in the Copyright Act that allows the staff of libraries and educational institutions to copy and communicate material on your behalf.

You as a copyright creator
As a student you own any material you create as part of your schoolwork—not your school. This means that if your school wants to use your materials in any publications or on web sites they need to get your permission. Obviously you can choose to use and publish your own material in any publications or web sites you make.