Teaching Support: Copyright

Copyright is a form of Intellectual Property. It gives the copyright holder exclusive rights to control uses of their work, including:

• reproduction
• communication
• publication
• adaptation 
• performance

Copyright at Curtin helps Curtin staff and students understand their obligations and entitlements, including:

• University’s Statutory Licences
• Copyright warning notices and labelling requirements
• Higher Degree Theses

Curtin staff and students are both creators and users of copyright material.

questions © Roland O'Daniel CC BY-SA 2.0

Can I use images or artistic works (such as graphs, diagrams, photographs) in my teaching materials?

Can I copy or communicate materials covered by a commercial licence or contract?

Can I make multiple copies of book chapters or journal articles and distribute these to my students?

Is it ok to supply Open Access material (e.g. Creative Commons) to my students?

Can I use material obtained from the internet (text, images) in my teaching materials?

The University participates in 3 licensing schemes that are negotiated by Universities Australia with copyright collecting societies.

The University Copyright Procedures require staff arrange unit readings through the Library. The library can ensure we meet our copying limits under the University's copyright licenses and attach warning notices as required. Staff should not upload copies of third-party copyright material directly to Blackboard. Instead, staff should set up unit readings through the Library Reading Lists service. Reading lists is integrated with Blackboard.

Information on creating your own Reading lists can be found here. 

If you want to copy more than the ‘fair dealing’ copying limits, communicate more than is allowed by the statutory licenses, or if you want to include copyright material in a publication or thesis:

• In your permission letter, make it clear how you intend to use the material (e.g. non-commercial or educational purposes) and who will have access to it.
• Ensure you get permission in writing and keep a record of it. Permission via email is acceptable.
• Abide by any conditions imposed.
• On the copies themselves make it clear you have copied the material with permission (e.g. ‘reproduced with permission of the copyright holder’) and reference correctly.

Online modules cover:

• Copyright basics
• Attribution and Moral rights
• Fair dealing
• Statutory Licences I
• Statutory Licences II
• Reading Lists and Blackboard
• Copyright for HDR Students

Training available by searching for Academic integrity: Copyright for staff through iPerform.

Contact the Copyright Officer by email Library-Copyright@curtin.edu.au, or phone (+61 8) 9266 7494 for queries relating to:

• Use of copyright material for teaching and research purposes;
• Copyright information sessions;
• Library database licence agreements.