The Copyright Act provides the legislative framework for the copying and communication of electronic, print, graphic, and audio-visual material at Murdoch University. As an educational institution we have limited exemptions under two statutory licences.

The CAL Licence is administered by the Copyright Agency Limited, and covers the copying and communication of literary, dramatic, and artistic works, in both print and digital formats.

Staff must ensure that any copyright material used under the CAL Licence:

• is only provided to students who are enrolled in an award based course at Murdoch University
• falls within the 'reasonable portion limits' set by the Act; e.g 1 chapter or 10% of a book; or one article (more if they concern the same topic) from a journal issue.
• is fully attributed

It is University policy that all online readings of copyright protected materials must be managed through the Library's Electronic Course Materials Service (ECMS).  Please see the Guide to ECMS or phone the ECMS staff on 9360.2745 for more information.

The Screenrights Licence covers the copying and communication of broadcast transmissions recorded off-air from television (including free-to-air, satellite, and cable) and radio.

Screenrights copies of films, documentaries, etc. can be played in lectures that are to be recorded in Lectopia for communication online to authorised users (i.e. staff and students of the institution).

Screenrights copies can be made at home, or by AVS on request. Copies may also be obtained from EnhanceTV or from other university libraries. 

A third licence, the Tertiary Music Licence (TML), allows the University to perform, copy, and communicate music and other sound recordings from an extensive repertoire in which copyright belongs to members of the music societies APRA, ARIA, AMCOS, and PPCA.

The TML makes a number of provisions governing the use of these materials – e.g. Guild activities are not covered – but some of the purposes that may be licenced include playing ©music directly from an original source in a lecture; providing students with ©music ‘listenings’ via ECMS  or Lectopia; dubbing ©music to disc and distributing copies to students; and making video recordings of University events that include ©music or sound recordings from the repertoire.

NB the TML does not cover any music downloaded from the web even when it is acquired from a legitimate source.

It is worth noting that copying and/or communication made under these licences is not free; the University pays substantial royalties for the licensed educational use of copyright protected materials.

The various requirements of these licences are covered in this website, which is intended to provide you with copyright advice to ensure that the University is not in breach of the Act, or of the terms of the licences.

 

The University provides copyright support and information but not legal opinion: this can be sought from
the Australian Copyright Council who provide free legal advice on copyright matters.