Copyright and Intellectual Property

Copyright information can often be difficult but it is essential, regardless of whether we are creating original works or managing a collection of other people's work.

This information is provided as guidance only and does not necessarily constitute expert or legal advice.  If in doubt, always assume that a work is in copyright and seek legal advice before reproducing it.

Coppyright legislation

The Copyright Act 1968 is the legislation from which copyright law in Australia stems.

Computer software, CD-ROMs and the Internet have made compliance with copyright law more complex. It can be difficult to establish what are your rights and responsibilities.

Collecting institutions and copyright law

 How do organisations comply with copyright requirements while developing online catalogues accessible to anyone with an Internet connection?

Useful resources for collecting organisations include:

• Collections Law: Legal Issues for Australian Archives, Galleries, Libraries and Museums published by published by the Collections Council of Australia (2004-10)

• Copyright Guidelines for Museums and Galleries in a Digital Environment , 1998, Australian Copyright Council

This is a 10-page document that tells you when you need permission from a copyright owner, how to determine who is the owner of the copyright, what should be covered by permission to create and publish a digital image, how to document copyright ownership and manage clearances and other related concerns.

New legislation

The copyright law is very complex and constantly evolving. As complex issues arise in the Intellectual Property sector, new legislation is developed to provide a regulatory framework for the protection of copyright.

There have been amendments to deal with new challenges and emerging technologies.

Use of images

It can take weeks for an organisation to give permission for use of an image. There can be charges related to using images. With online images the question is even more complex. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright and other use restrictions that may apply to these works.

You may need to contact VISCOPY, the Visual Arts Collecting Society, Australasia's visual arts copyright collecting agency, representing 250,000 premier Australian and International visual artists.  VISCOPY was designed to streamline the copyright process. VISCOPY represents many Indigenous artists exclusively.

Online images are easy to download onto your own computer and you are physically able to reuse them - even though it's illegal to do so without the proper clearances.

It's a new world for collection and management institutions who have online databases - organisations like the Australian War Memorial. 

 Many images with ‘no known copyright’ are being made available for public download through the Australian War Memorial's pages on the Commons on Flickr.

The Memorial is participating in the Commons on Flickr to increase public access to its collection and to seek help from the public to identify people, places and events in the images. However, It is the policy of the Memorial to charge usage fees for the commercial use of these images.

Please see the example of the Copyright Policy of the Australian War Memorial.

Copyright advice resource agencies

You may want to contact copyright collecting agencies and information organisations such as:

• Copyright Agency Limited (CAL), representing authors, journalists, visual artists, surveyors, photographers and newspapers, magazine and book publishers.

• Australian Copyright Council, a not-for-profit organisation which provides information, advice and training about copyright in Australia.

• The Arts Law Centre of Australia is the national community legal centre for the arts in Australia. The Arts Law Centre provides legal services, information and sample agreementsas well as publishing, adevocating and undertaking policy research.

Useful copyright resources:

• Collections Australia Network Copyright and Intellectual Property

• Australian Copyright Council, Articles on copyright issues by Copyright Council staff lawyers

• Australian Copyright Council, Other Copyright-related documents

Intellectual property issues

• Authentic Design Alliance advocates for the use of genuine design product and helps members to encourage their clients to choose the genuine article.

• Arts Law Centre of Australia, Artists in the Black Project provides services, resources and an advocacy role in relation to Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property.

• Australian Network for Arts and Technology (ANAT) provides a range of Resource Documents relating to contracts for writers as well as template agreements for terms and conditions.