When you can copy, communicate or perform

The Copyright Act does not stop staff and students from copying altogether, but it does impose rules regarding what, how much, and for what purposes you may copy works protected by copyright. You may copy material if:

  • copyright in the material has expired; or
  • you have written permission from all the relevant copyright owners; or
  • your purpose falls within the fair dealing provisions or other exceptions in the Copyright Act; or
  • your copying comes under the statutory licence provisions of the Copyright Act.

The amount you may copy under the fair dealing and statutory licence provisions depends upon why you are copying and the type of material you are copying. As a general principle, the fair dealing provisions apply to your own research or study; while the statutory licences apply to use in teaching or library resource provision.

The Copyright Act was amended in December 2006 to permit individuals to copy certain types of material solely for private and domestic use. These new 'private use' provisions do not apply to the University. If copies made by staff or students under these provisions are used for University purposes, they become infringing copies.

When you can communicate or perform material in public without permission is also governed by your purpose and intended audience. You communicate something to the public when you make it available online or electronically transmit it to the public.

You may communicate or perform material in public if:

  • copyright in the material has expired; or
  • you have written permission from all the relevant copyright owners; or
  • if the material is licenced for use without permission, for example under Creative Commons licence; or
  • your purpose falls within the fair dealing provisions or other exceptions in the Copyright Act; or
  • your communication comes under the statutory licence provisions of the Copyright Act.

As a general rule, you cannot copy anything for publication, entertainment or sharing purposes, unless you have the copyright owner's permission. Likewise, you cannot publicly perform anything for entertainment purposes, unless you have the copyright owner's permission.

Warning about audio and video files and the QUT network

Under the Australian Copyright Act it is not legal to copy your audio or video files onto QUT equipment for use. In some circumstances, it is legal for individuals to copy sound recordings without the permission of the copyright owners (Copyright Act 1968 Section 109A). These circumstances include:

  • you must own a legitimate copy of the source recording from which you make your copy
  • you may use the copy you make only for private and domestic purposes
  • you may play the copy only on a device that you own.

If you do not abide by all these conditions, the copy you make will be infringing copyright law, unless you have obtained permission from the copyright owners.

It is against the QUT Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources policy to store or play files that infringe the law on University equipment. Do not use University equipmento store or play music or video that you might have copied from your own audio or video files, unless you can prove:

  1. that you have permission from the copyright owners
  2. that the music is for QUT purposes.

Even if you have paid for the music from a legitimate site such as Apple iTunes, or you have the permission of the copyright owner, you may still be in breach of the QUT Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources policy if the music is not for QUT purposes. If you use your own equipment at QUT, such as a personal music player, to play or store your copied recordings purely for your own enjoyment, then that would not infringe the QUT Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources policy, so long as you do not connect your personal device to the QUT network.

Using peer-to-peer software

You are cautioned against using university networks and machines to deal with music or video in digital form, this includes:

  • ripping
  • burning
  • peer-to-peer networking
  • file-sharing
  • file-swapping
  • downloading from sites offering music.

If done without the express permission of the copyright owners, these activities are against QUT's Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources policy and may also result in an infringement of Australian copyright law. Even if your actions are done with the permission of the copyright owner, you may be in breach of the policy if the music is not for QUT-related purposes.