Copyright advice
Useful copyright information for students, including using text, images, film and music.
Copyright
While studying, you will use works written or created by others in your assignments, presentations and assessments. Many of those works will be protected by copyright law.
Copyright is the legal right of the creator to determine if and how their works can be used by others, and this includes the right to reproduce, distribute, display, and make adaptations. In Australia, certain forms of original expression in material form are automatically protected by copyright. These include:
- film and sound recording
- images
- text
- music.
Understanding how you can use copyright protected material will save you time, and help you avoid potentially serious consequences during your studies at RMIT and beyond.
Knowing what material you can use and how to use it correctly, is an important aspect of academic integrity.
The Fair dealing provision for Research or study
The Fair dealing provision for Research or Study in the Australian Copyright Act enables students and researchers to rely on using a reasonable portion of a copyrighted work, such as 10% or one chapter of a book, for research or study.
For artistic works, videos, films, and sound recordings, there is no simple defined rule on the amount you can use. Instead, "reasonable" is key the key factor — reasonable in terms of the amount of works used and in terms of the nature of use.
The fair dealing provision is closed, which means:
- It applies only during a course of study or research.
- Copyrighted materials must be deleted from RMIT platforms like Canvas once studies conclude.
- The Research or Study provision does not permit sharing someone else's copyrighted work on public sites such as LinkedIn or Instagram.
- Sharing copright protected works within a public digital portfolio requires permission from the copyright holder.
Other key points to understand are:
- Generally, students own the copyright to original works created in a course at RMIT.
- If someone else, such as an instructor, wishes to reuse your assignment or artwork, as an example or promotional activity, they must have your consent.
- For works created as part of a group, copyright is shared. You need all group members' permission for public sharing.
Moral rights and the right of attribution
All uses of copyright works, including under the fair dealing provisions, must contain a credit statement or attribution referencing the creator/author of the work.
And remember, you should not falsely claim to be an author of a work you did not create.
For more information, visit the Referencing page.
Test your knowledge
Further resources
Related resources If you are looking for more information on related topics, you can visit these Learning Lab pages and other open education resources.
An introduction to Copyright in Australia
General information about copyright in Australia.
