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C2. Copyright, plagiarism and fair use

There are some very important ethical considerations associated with the use of information. In most cases the work of other people is rightfully their intellectual property, and those who rely heavily on it or re-produce it, are bound to acknowledge that. Two of the most important considerations are Copyright issues, and the care needed to avoid Plagiarism.

• Copyright defined
• Plagiarism defined
• Plagiarism links
• Copyright Council of Australia
• What does copyright protect?
• Fair use: using copyright
• Material on the Internet and emails may be protected by Copyright
• RMIT University's Disclaimer and Copyright Notice
• Copyright Management Service

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Copyright defined

“Copyright is a type of legal protection for people who express ideas and information in certain forms. The most common forms are: writing, visual images, music and moving images. Copyright protects the form or way an idea or information is expressed, not the idea or information itself.”
Australian Copyright Council Online Information Centre

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Plagiarism defined

“1. The appropriation or imitation of another's ideas and manner of expressing them, as in art, literature, etc., 2. To be passed off as one's own; something appropriated and passed off as one's own in this manner.” The Macquarie Dictionary

Plagiarism covers a variety of inappropriate behaviours, including:

• failure to properly document a source
• copying material from the internet or databases
• collusion between students
• purchasing pre-written or on-demand papers from the numerous paper mills and cheat sites

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Plagiarism links

• Academic Registrar’s Group
  RMIT University has an academic policy and associated procedures related to plagiarism. This information is intended for staff and students and can be accessed from the RMIT Policies site.
• Plagiarism (and how to avoid it): Resources for Students - includes some faculty and school style guides
• RMIT Plagiarism policy
• Learning Skills Unit: online learning support materials, including interactive modules on paraphrasing and referencing.
• Plagiarism support materials
• Academic Integrity @ RMIT
• Assessing Learning in Australian Universities from the Centre for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE) at University of Melbourne for the Australian Universities Teaching Committee. Includes practical guides on minimising plagiarism (36 strategies) and advice on detection software. Lots of other useful resources too.
• Deterring Plagiarism in Higher Education from Oxford Brookes University

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Copyright Council of Australia

The Australian Copyright Council is an independent non-profit organisation that provides a variety of information and services pertaining to copyright law. Their website includes information on forthcoming copyright related seminars, details on Council's publications, as well as numerous information sheets on a variety of topics related to copyright law and regulations. One such information sheet is on Copying for research or study, with another on Internet: Copying From.

Contact details for the Australian Copyright Council:

Australian Copyright Council
25 Chalmers Street
Redfern NSW 2016
tel: +61 2 9318 1788
fax: +61 2 9698 3536
email: info@copyright.org.au

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What does copyright protect?

In Australia, copyright law is contained in the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) and decisions of courts. Copyright protects a range of material including:

• written material such as journal articles, novels, poems, song lyrics and reports.

• artistic works such as paintings, drawings, cartoons, sculpture, craft work, photographs, maps and plans.
• musical works

• dramatic works such as plays and mime.
• computer programs

• compilations such as anthologies, directories and databases.

• cinematograph films such as feature films, television programs, and commercials.

• sound recordings such as recorded music or a recorded lecture.

Australian Copyright Council. Information sheet G53. Copying for research or study. July 2001.

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Fair use: Using copyright material for research or study

As a result of special provisions in the copyright Act, if you use copyright material for the purpose of research or study, you do not infringe copyright, provided your use is fair. Whether your use is fair or not will depend on all the circumstances. The Act sets out two situations describing when it will be fair to deal with copyright material for research or study, and also sets out some guidelines which should be applied in other cases.

Firstly, if you are reproducing text or printed music which is published as an edition of 10 or more pages, the Act deems it is fair to copy:
a) 10% of the number of pages; or
b) one chapter, if the work is divided into chapters.

Secondly, the Act deems it is fair to reproduce an article from a newspaper, magazine or journal.

Australian Copyright Council. Information sheet G53. Copying for research or study. July 2001.

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Material on the Internet and emails may be protected by Copyright

Material in electronic form, such as on the Internet may be protected by copyright. The fact that it is on the Internet does not mean it is "in the public domain" or "copyright free". However, many people publish material on the Internet and give permission for people to copy it for certain purposes (for example, many web sites include a statement about what people are and are not permitted to do with the material on the site).

Australian Copyright Council. Information sheet G56.Internet: copying from. March 2001.

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