Copyright Policy

Intent

This policy sets out the principles, responsibilities and requirements of James Cook University (JCU; the University) staff, students and affiliates when using material protected by copyright under the Copyright Act 1968 (Copyright Act), or the applicable copyright legislation of the country in which the parties are using copyright material.

Scope

This policy applies to all staff, students, affiliates, and other approved parties (e.g. contractors) of the University while engaged in conduct or activities undertaken as part of their study, research or work.

This policy does not apply to matters relating to the ownership of copyright in original work created by University staff and students. Refer to the Intellectual Property Policy.

Definitions

Except as otherwise set out below, the meaning of terms used in this Policy are set out in the Policy Glossary.

Creative Commons refers to a particular set of licences that can be applied to copyright material to allow certain permissions in advance. These licences are specific in what they allow and have conditions that must be followed. To use the material in any way other than what is outlined in the licence requires permission from the copyright holder.

Fair dealing refers to specifically defined exceptions to copyright infringement. They include research or study, criticism or review, parody or satire, reporting news, enabling a person with a disability to access the material, and professional advice by a lawyer or attorney. Use of copyrighted material under fair dealing exceptions must be “fair”, in terms of the amount of material used and the impact that use will have on the copyright holder.

Moral rights are distinct from, but related to, copyright. They entitle the creator of a work (in which copyright subsists) to:

• be identified as the creator of the work;
• take action if the work is falsely attributed as being someone else’s work or is altered by someone else but attributed as if it were unaltered; and
• take action if the work is distorted or treated in a way that is prejudicial to the creator’s honour or reputation.

Third-party works are works for which the copyright is owned by someone other than the author or the University. It can include works that the author created, but for which they do not hold the copyright.

Principles

As a user of copyright material, the University is committed to:

• improving access to the resources staff and students need for work, study, teaching and research, including material which is protected by copyright; and
• ensuring that all staff and students understand their legal obligations in relation to their use of copyright material by providing access to educational material including fact sheets and guides.

The University adopts an educative approach to copyright when providing support services and materials that inform best practice for both staff and students.

Policy

1. Roles and responsibilities

1.1. Vice Chancellor. Responsible for ensuring appropriate policy and procedures regarding compliance with copyright law and related licensing processes and agreements are in place.

1.2 University Copyright Officer. Oversees the administration of the University’s copyright agreements, compliance structure and reporting processes through:

• Assisting staff and students to understand their obligations under the Copyright Act;
• Managing institutional copyright licences;
• Maintaining fact sheets, guides and other educational resources about copyright obligations;
• Providing advice to staff and students on copyright obligations;
• Receiving notifications or other forms of notice from third parties in relation to content transmitted, cached, hosted or referred to on the University's systems in relation to copyright;
• Managing external notifications of alleged copyright infringements in a timely and confidential manner; and
• Referring material that may require takedown actions to the appropriate Head of Work Unit or JCU legal counsel if required.

1.3 JCU Legal Counsel. Provides advice on any alleged copyright breaches and the process for resolution.

1.4 Heads of Work Units. Responsible for ensuring copyright compliance in the business activities of their organisational unit, and ensure staff are aware of and adhere to copyright compliance procedures.

1.5 All staff and affiliates. Comply with all applicable legal requirements and obligations pertaining to copyright and must use the policies, procedures and guidelines put in place by the University to manage and report the use of material that is protected by copyright (see JCU’s Copyright Guides).

1.6 All students. Comply with all applicable legal requirements and obligations pertaining to copyright and must use the policies, procedures and guidelines put in place by the University to manage and report the use of material that is protected by copyright (see JCU’s Copyright Guides).

2. Use of copyright material

2.1 Staff and students may copy or use material which is protected by copyright if:

• the copying is permitted under a licence, including a statutory licence available to the University as an educational institution or other licence that Universities Australia has entered into on the University’s behalf (see section 3); or
• the purpose of the copying falls within the fair dealing or other exceptions in the Copyright Act; or
• the material has a suitable Creative Commons or similar licence applied that would allow the proposed use; or
• written permission from all relevant copyright owners has been obtained.

2.2 Staff and students of JCU must adhere to the licences and agreements. This means that when using copyright material, staff and students must:

• use all material covered by statutory licences in accordance with those licences; and
• use all material utilised by invoking an exception to copyright infringement within the bounds of that exception; and
• Use all material utilised under a Creative Commons licence, or another pre-applied licence agreement, in accordance with the stated conditions of that licence.

2.3 Staff and students must respect the moral rights of copyright owners when using copyright material. This means that when using copyright material, staff and students must:

• correctly identify and appropriately attribute the creator of the material; and
• not distort or mistreat the work in any way that would be prejudicial to the creator’s honour or reputation; and
• use technologies with care to avoid underlying copyright issues (refer to the Artificial Intelligence Policy and guidelines).

2.4 Staff and students must ensure that the risk of copyright infringement is minimised by:

• appropriately attributing the source of third-party works; and
• ensuring that any copying made under Fair Dealing for the purposes of research, study, criticism, review, parody or satire is fair and is limited to the amounts indicated in the Copyright Act; and
• not using University equipment, facilities, digital platforms and services for purposes that infringe or increase the risk of copyright infringement; and
• not storing material containing third-party copyright content on external non-University digital platforms and services such as social media, unless the copyright owner has given permission, the content is covered by an appropriate Creative Commons licence, and/or the content has no known copyright restrictions; and
• acting on the University's advice to minimise the risk of copyright infringement.

3. Non-compliance

3.1 JCU will not tolerate the making or use of unauthorised copies of copyright material by its staff, affiliates or students, or other approved users (e.g. contractors) of JCU information resources.

3.2 Breaches of this policy may lead to disciplinary action as a failure to comply with University policy, and may also have consequences for users under criminal or civil provisions under the Copyright Act. The University may also be found liable for any breach.

3.3 Notifications from third parties in relation to content transmitted, cached, hosted or referred to on the JCU network will be investigated by the University in accordance with relevant law.

Related policy instruments

Artificial Intelligence Policy

Artificial Intelligence Guidelines

JCU Copyright Guides

Intellectual Property Policy

Digital Technologies Acceptable Use Policy

Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (Research Code)

JCU Enterprise Agreement

Staff Code of Conduct

Student Code of Conduct

Open Scholarship Policy

Schedules/Appendices

Nil

Related documents and legislation

Administration

NOTE: Printed copies of this policy are uncontrolled, and currency can only be assured at the time of printing.

Approval Details

Revision History