Whenever you are using somebody else's work, it is most likely protected by copyright law. Observing copyright is an important aspect of academic integrity.
What you need to know about copyright as a student
During the course of your studies, you will use works written and created by others in your assignments and presentations. Many of those works will be protected by copyright law. Observing copyright, that is knowing what material you can use and how to use it correctly, is an important aspect of academic integrity.
Get familiar with the concepts and options described below. Understanding these will save you time, embarrassment and help you avoid potentially more serious consequences during your studies at RMIT and beyond.
About fair dealing and fair use
Fair dealing is Australian law and relates to a specific set of provisions within the Copyright Act (1968). These are a set of rights awarded to the public in relation to the use of copyright works without permission.
Fair Use is US law and relates to a specific set of provisions within the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). It allows members of the public to reproduce copyright works without the permission of the copyright holder. Fair Use does not apply in Australia.
The fair dealing provisions require you to undertake a genuine act of fair dealing. This means you should only use other people's work for one of the provisions below.
All uses of copyright works outside of fair dealing will require the permission of the copyright owner or holder. This also includes demonstrating or showing your work to others, for example as part of competitions or film nights.
Fair dealing provision for research or study
When you are undertaking a course of instruction or personal private research.
This provision allows students and researchers to rely on using a reasonable portion of a copyright work (e.g. 10% or 1 chapter) as part of their research or study. For artistic works, videos, film and sound recordings, there is no simple defined rule as to how much you can copy for research and study purposes. Reasonable is the key factor: reasonable in terms of the amount of works used, and reasonable in terms of the nature of the use.
This fair dealing provision is a closed provision, which means it only applies during a course of study or research. Unlike Creative Commons or free licensed works, copyright works can only be kept on RMIT's online platforms, such as Canvas, while you are studying. Once you finish your studies, you must delete any copyrighted materials you have downloaded.
The fair dealing provision for research and study does not allow posting to public sites such as Blogger, lssuu or other open publishing platforms. Showing works to others as part of a public event, exhibition or competition is not covered by fair dealing for research and study and will require the permission of the copyright holder.
See Copyright Act 1968 - Fair dealing for purpose of research and study.
Other fair dealing provisions
The following provisions of ‘criticism and review’ and ‘parody and satire’ are provisions that are open to the public yet are untested areas of law, care needs to be taken when relying on these provisions publicly. It is your own risk to rely on these provisions. Criticism and review, parody and satire, if used publicly needs to be for the genuine act within the purpose of the provision, and adhere to the fair dealing factors.
For criticism or review
When you are undertaking a legitimate task that involves criticising or reviewing a copyrighted work.
Some examples:
- using an image of a contemporary painting where a copy the work is used as part of the overall act of reviewing or criticising the work. This would more than likely be considered a legitimate use of a work in reliance on fair dealing, as the act of reviewing or criticising is a genuine act. An act of forming an opinion on the work - the painting.
- a magazine review about a new film release that includes an image of the DVD cover could be considered a legitimate reliance on the fair dealing provision of criticism or review. As the act of review or criticism is a genuine act, an act of forming an opinion on the work - the film.
For parody and satire
When you are transforming someone's original work into a parody or satire.
Copyright holders don’t usually licence criticism of their works, such as an adaption/mashup, that could cast them and the brand in a bad light. If you intend to use a copyrighted work for the purpose of parody or satire, it must be a legitimate use that transforms the original work into a work that is either satirical or humorous. There are important considerations you must make:
- are you planning to use a substantial amount of the existing work?
- is your usage of this work likely to interfere with its existing or potential market?
- is what you are planning to use an important part of the work?
- and in using that part, would your work compete in the market place with the original work?
If a substantial amount of the original work has been used, and the part used was an important part of the original work, and the use could have been licensed within the existing market, then the use would most probably be considered unfair and a breach of fair dealing/copyright law.
If you intend to use a copyrighted work that fall outside the fair dealing provisions, you must ask the copyright holder for permission before using their work.
Are you an Higher Degree by Research (HDR) student? We have a sample permission letter and a guide on seeking permission available.
Copyright-free and licensed works
There are works you can use without relying on the fair dealing provisions.
Public domain
When copyright is waved or expires, the work becomes part of the public domain. This means that anyone can use it.
How long does copyright last? In Australia, copyright lasts for 70 years after the death of the author of the work.
In the case of subject-matters other than written works, copyright lasts for:
- 70 years from the year of first publication of a sound recording or film;
- 50 years from the year a television or sound broadcast was made; and
- 25 years from the year of first publication of a published edition of a work.
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a simple licencing system that allows creators to assign different types of licences to their work. In other words, Creative Commons works are free to use, as long as you follow the licence terms.
If you'd like to know how to find copyright-free works and identify Creative Commons content, go to the Creative Commons section of the Copyright guide.
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. It is best to include full reference details.
You will find a more detailed advice on referencing and attribution in the Referencing/Citing section of the Copyright guide.
There are several referencing styles used at RMIT. For guidance, go to the Library's referencing page.
Intellectual Property rights of students
You are the copyright owner of any original work you create in a course of study at RMIT. If an instructor wishes to reuse your work in any way, including using your assignment as an example, or a photograph you took, they must get consent from you.
These pages explain it further:
Visit our companion guide, discover copyright free sources
Not sure what to do? Email us: copyright@rmit.edu.au
Australian Copyright Council guides
- Australian Copyright Council: Find an answer
- Fair Dealing: What Can I Use Without Permission
- Parodies, Satire and Comedy
- Duration of copyright
- Quotes and Extracts
Copyright guides for different content sources
Important!
Many image services such as Flickr, Photobucket, Imageshack, Twitpic, host Creative Commons-licensed images. These sites may also contain images that could potentially be in breach of copyright.
One example is a photograph of an an artwork, which is a copyrighted work, such as an image of a painting from an art exhibition or an object from a museum. Even though a photographer has licensed their photographs under Creative Commons, you must ensure they do not infringe copyright of the creator of the work captured in the photograph before you use the image. If in doubt, contact the photographer to find out if they have obtained permission to photograph the artistic work.
Using images
Using images in presentations
The Copyright Act (1968) allows students and researchers to show or present images in a class to a closed or limited audience. A limited or closed audience would be defined as other student’s or class members, presentation as part of examination/assessment, and Graduate Research Committee presentations.
This provision does not allow copyright works used in presentations to be recorded, copied, placed online, or shown as part of public activity.
Adapting, changing or modifying an image by 10%
There is no 10% adaption rule for images, text or audio visual copyright works. The only instance where permission would not be required is where a new work based on the concepts of the first work is substantially different. Substantially is measured in quality, not quantity.
The moral right of integrity is an important consideration. If you modify an existing work to a point where a copyright holder feels the modification has affected the integrity of their work, damaging their reputation and honour, they can bring an infringement accusation against you under the right of integrity.
Creating mashups and collages
Mashups or collage creations incorporating copyrighted images need to be assessed against ownership rights and copyright exceptions, such as fair dealing – research and study. You can create mashups or collages under the fair dealing provision - research and study, but only while you are studying.
To use copyrighted work in a mashup or collage outside of research and study, you must ask the copyright holder for permission. If you create a collage or mashup from a substantial part of an existing work, you may be in breach of copyright.
The safest option is to create mashups and collages from works where copyright has expired, from Creative Commons-licensed works or open resources. See the 'Free stuff' lists in our Copyright guide for suggestions.
Online, MyRMIT, blogs, wikis
The fair dealing provisions allow the use of copyright works at RMIT for assessment tasks such as blogs, wikis and e-portfolios hosted behind authentication [a password is required for access eg: myRMIT].
The fair dealing provisions do not apply to public sites such as blogger.com, Facebook, YouTube or Twitter. The fair dealing provisions are closed provisions and only available whilst undertaking a course of study, or research.
Copyright works used online within RMIT such as blogs, wikis and e-Portfolio’s can only remain online whilst enrolled if you are no longer enrolled in the course the works must be removed. Therefore, the responsibility for managing the use either falls with you the student whereby you must remove all copyright works uploaded, or alternatively the staff member assumes the responsibility and undertakes to remove all of the copyright works on your behalf.
Sources of images
Google Images
Google displays both free and copyright images it found on websites. Before using an image you've found using Google, check the copyright statement or terms and conditions of the website to find out if there are any restrictions on the use of that image. The safest option is to search Google for images that you can use freely, such as Creative Commons images.
How to search for creative commons images using Google
Social media, YouTube, Flickr, Yammer, Facebook, blogs and wikis
Externally hosted public sites, such as Flickr, Twitter, Yammer, or blogs and wikis contain terms of use that you are required to agree to in order to set up an account. Read carefully the terms and conditions on the site. Once you accept the terms of use, you are bound by these conditions.
You can use Creative Commons, or free images on social networking sites. You should not use Creative Commons non-commercial licensed images. Obtaining revenue from advertising would be considered a commercial undertaking.
Using articles, journals and newspapers
Embedding and linking
Embedding and linking to articles removes many copyright problems. Where possible, link or embed an article, instead of scanning, photocopying, or downloading/uploading.
Using snippets and quotes
You can use snippets or quotes from books without permission from the rights holder if the quote taken is not a “substantial part” of the original work. You must attribute the author. Whether a quote is considered substantial or not, is measured by importance rather than the amount copied and can be difficult to quantify. Check the Quotes and Extracts guide (Australian Copyright Council) for advice.
Scanning
You can scan articles under the fair dealing provisions for the purposes of research and study, and criticism and review. You are allowed to scan:
- one article from a journal issue
- more articles if their subject matter is related or if the use of the article is for the same course or research.
For your research or study purposes, you can store scanned articles online for the duration of your course only. You must store them behind a password and not make them available to anyone else. Fair dealing for research and study does not apply to public use.
Printing and photocopying
You can print copies of articles under the fair dealing provisions. You may print copies from websites or photocopy articles from printed copies of newspapers or journals.
You are allowed to print or photocopy:
- one article from a journal issue
- more articles if their subject matter is related or if the use of the article is for the same course or research.
Sources of articles, journals and newspapers
Institutional repositories and open access journals
Open access journals and institutional repositories contain scholarly academic articles that are available online. You can link to, embed, download and print articles within these repositories. A list of repositories in Australian and New Zealand universities is available from the Australasian Open Access Repositories site.
To find open access resources, go to:
Downloading from Library databases
The majority of Library databases allow you to:
- download and use a single copy of an article for personal research purposes.
- share links to articles
- print articles directly from the database.
The databases do not allow you to:
- download and share articles by email or social media
- upload copies to websites and open publishing platforms, including learning platforms, such as Canvas
- photocopy and share printed articles.
If you'd like to share articles with your fellow students, send them the links.
Go to Journals and newspapers in LibrarySearch to find licensed e-journals.
Downloading from websites
You can download articles under the fair dealing provisions for the purposes of research and study, and criticism and review. You are allowed to download:
- one article from a journal issue
- more articles if their subject matter is related or if the use of the article is for the same course or research.
For your research or study purposes, you can store downloaded articles for the duration of your course only. You must store them behind a password and not make them available to anyone else. Fair dealing for research and study does not apply to public use.
Important!
Be careful when using e-books that were shared on social media or on an open publishing platforms, such as ISSUU or Slideshare. Some of them may be illegal copies.
By downloading, linking to or sharing illegally-uploaded copies of e-books, you will be participating in an infringement of a copyright-protected work.
Using chapters, books and e-books
Embedding or linking
Where possible, embed or link to a digitised chapter or an e-book instead of scanning, photocopying, downloading or uploading it. Embedding or linking to e-books or chapters is the safest way of sharing them.
Using snippets or quotes
You can use snippets or quotes from books without permission from the rights holder if the quote taken is not a substantial part of the original work. Whether a quote is substantial or not is determined by its importance rather than the amount copied, so it can be difficult to quantify.
You must always attribute the author of the quote.
Scanning from print
You can scan 1 chapter or 10% of the total number of pages from a book under the Fair dealing: 'research or study' and 'criticism or review' provisions.
Scanned chapters can be stored on your computer, external drives or your personal RMIT drive for research or study purposes, however:
- You can only keep them for the duration of your study,
- You must keep them in a secure location (e.g. password-protected folder),
- Fair dealing 'research or study' provision does not apply to public use, so you can't share the files with anyone else.
Downloading
Each e-book database has different restrictions on downloading, copying and printing. Some publishers permit downloading portions of an e-book for printing or reading later. Other publishers may only allow reading online. Some publications are DRM (Digital Rights Management)-free, allowing less restricted printing and downloading.
You can download one copy of an e-book or a chapter from e-books for personal research purposes. e-Books from Library databases can be downloaded for offline reading on a computer or other device. You will need to register with the e-book platform first.
You must not share printed or copied e-books or chapters with anyone. If you wish other students or friends to view/read the chapter, just share the link with them.
Printing
Chapters from e-books held within the Library’s databases must be printed from the platform it is hosted on.
The majority of database licenses allow you to:
- link or embed e-books,
- print limited amounts for personal research and study.
The licences do not allow for:
- printing and photocopying of e-books to share with others,
- downloading chapters from the database and sharing via email, external platform or online learning platform, such as Canvas.
Sources of e-books
Library e-book databases
The Library subscribes to a number of e-book databases in a wide range of subjects. You can find e-books using LibrarySearch.
Go to our e-Books guide for more information.
Creative Commons and open license e-books
Open Educational Resources (OERs) are learning and teaching materials published under the Creative Commons open licenses. OERs have licensing restrictions, so terms of use will vary for each publication. Check the permissions of each OER you want to use to make sure you comply with the terms.
To find out more about OERs, including where to find them, to help you understand allowable use of OERs, go to the Library's Open Educational Resources (OERs) guide.
Important!
These fair dealing provisions apply while you are an enrolled student. Once you have completed your studies, any copyright works used under the fair dealing provisions will require permission if the work is to be used for another purpose.
All uses of copyright works under these provisions must contain a credit statement/attribution referencing the creator/author of the work. It is best to include full reference details.
Using film, TV and YouTube
In a presentation
The Copyright Act (1968) allows students and researchers to show films and TV programs in class. A screening would happen during a presentation or as part of an assessment or exam to a closed or limited audience. A closed or limited audience is defined as students or class members.
This provision does not allow films or TV programs included into presentations to be recorded, copied, placed online, or shown as part of a public activity.
Using snippets
You are able to rely on the fair dealing provisions ‘research and study’ ‘criticism and review’ or ‘parody or satire’ to use snippets/clips from films and TV as part of assessment tasks. The use of clips/snippets under the fair dealing provisions must be for the genuine purpose of the provision such as criticising the film/TV program - forming an opinion on the work. Parody is transforming the original work into a new work that is either satirical or humorous.
The fair dealing provision of ‘research and study’ is a closed provision and only applies whilst you are enrolled as a student other uses such as public screenings or entry into film competitions will require the permission of the copyright holder.
The provisions ‘criticism and review’ and ‘parody and satire’ are provisions that are open to the public, yet are untested areas of law. If you rely on these provisions, you are doing it at your own risk. Make sure it is a genuine act within the purpose of the provision, and adhere to the fair dealing factors.
Creating mashups
Mashups incorporating commercially produced films, downloaded films, TV programs, clips ripped from DVDs or YouTube videos need to be assessed against ownership rights and copyright exceptions such as fair dealing for research and study.
Mashups can be created legally from out of copyright works where copyright has expired, or licensed works such as Creative Commons. See Duration of copyright guide (Australian Copyright Council).
Works protected by copyright such as commercially produced films, downloaded films, TV programs, clips ripped from DVDs or YouTube videos will most likely require the permission of the copyright holder in creating a mashup that is to be screened publicly, or entered into film competitions.
Most DVDs come with technological protection measures to stop DVDs from being unlocked, ripped/copied. Copyright law contains anti-circumvention (unlocking) provisions, it is a breach of copyright law to circumvent or unlock a technological protection measure.
If you have created a mashup using snippets from TV, and/or commercial films as part of your assignment or assessment, fair dealing allows you to present the mashup in class only.
Publishing online, including Canvas, blogs and wikis
The fair dealing provision for research and study allows the use of copyright works at RMIT for assessment tasks, such as blogs and wikis, that are hosted on RMIT platforms and require authentication. Copyright works can only remain online whilst you are enrolled. If you are no longer enrolled in the course, the works must be removed. It is your responsibility to remove all copyright works you have uploaded.
The fair dealing provision for research and study does not apply to posting to public sites such as blogger.com, Facebook, YouTube or alike. The fair dealing provision for research and study is a closed provision, which you can take advantage of while undertaking a course of study, or research.
Sourcing videos
Embedding
You may embed videos from YouTube, Vimeo, and other media platforms into Canvas, websites, external blogs and social media channels, only if the video you wish to embed is not an illegal copy of a work. It must be a video that has been placed onto the video hosting site by the copyright holder.
Downloading
Be careful when sourcing your videos from the video download sites. Unless you are certain that the videos were uploaded by the copyright owner, you might be downloading an illegal copy. By downloading or linking to this work, you will also be undertaking or authorising an illegal activity.
YouTube and Vimeo terms of use prohibit the downloading of content unless the video clearly has a download button/function on the web page where the video appears. You are not permitted to download, reproduce, copy or upload any YouTube or Vimeo content to Canvas or other website, or platform within RMIT without first obtaining permission. You may, however, embed YouTube or Vimeo videos. You must ensure the copy is a legal copy and has been uploaded by the copyright holder.
To find the copyright holder of the video, click on details for the uploader of the materials. See the 'Free stuff' section of the Copyright guide for links to open resources and Creative Commons films and videos.
Purchasing online copy
When you purchase a film or TV program from an online vendor, you will be asked to agree to their terms and conditions. This forms a personal contractual arrangement between you and the provider. If you wish to make use of the film or TV program that you have purchased online, you must meet the agreed terms and conditions. You will need a permission for any other use, including snippets or making a copy of the work.
In general, if you purchase a film or TV program online, it is for your personal use only.
Important!
The fair dealing provisions for research and study only apply while you are enrolled as a student. Once you have completed your studies any copyright works used under the fair dealing provisions will require permission if the work is to be used for another purpose.
Using music and sound
In a presentation
The Copyright Act (1968) allows students and researchers to use, and present music in class to a closed or limited audience. A limited or closed audience would be defined as other students or class members, and presentation as part of examination/assessment. This provision does not allow for music included in presentations to be recorded, copied, placed online, or shown as part of a public activity.
Using snippets
You are able to rely on the fair dealing provisions ‘research and study’ ‘criticism and review’ or ‘parody or satire’ to use snippets or short samples of music as part of assessment tasks. The use of snippets under the fair dealing provisions must be for the genuine purpose of the provision such as criticising the film/TV program - forming an opinion on the work. Parody is transforming the original work into a new work that is either satirical or humorous.
The provisions ‘criticism and review’ and ‘parody and satire’ are provisions that are open to the public, yet are untested areas of law. If you rely on these provisions, you are doing it at your own risk. Make sure it is a genuine act within the purpose of the provision, and adhere to the fair dealing factors.
Creating mashups
Mashups can be created legally from out of copyright works where copyright has expired, or licensed works such as Creative Commons. See Duration of copyright guide.
Mashups incorporating commercially produced music, downloaded music, samples ripped from CDs need to be assessed against ownership rights and copyright exceptions such as fair dealing – research and study.
Works protected by copyright, such as commercial music, will require the permission of the copyright holder in creating a mashup that is to be performed publicly, or entered into music competitions. Find out more about permissions on the APRA AMCOS website.
Most CDs come with technological protection measures to stop the CD from being ripped/copied. Copyright law contains anti-circumvention (unlocking) provisions, it is a breach of copyright law to circumvent or unlock a technological protection measure.
If you have created a mashup using snippets from commercial music as part of your assignment or assessment, fair dealing (research and study) allows you to present/perform the mashup in class only.
Publishing online, including Canvas, blogs and wikis
The fair dealing provisions allow the use of copyright works at RMIT for assessment tasks, such as blogs and wikis, that are hosted on RMIT platforms and require authentication. Copyright works can only remain online whilst you are enrolled. If you are no longer enrolled in the course, the works must be removed. It is your responsibility to remove all copyright works you have uploaded.
The fair dealing provisions do not apply to posting to public sites, such as blogger.com, sound cloud, Facebook, YouTube or other social media platforms.
Sources of music and sound
Downloading
Be careful when downloading music or sound from the Internet. Unless you are certain that the files were uploaded by the copyright owner, you might be downloading an illegal copy. By downloading or linking to the work you will also be undertaking an illegal activity.
A much safer source is Creative Commons music.
See The Free Stuff section of our Copyright guide for sites that host either free, Creative Commons and licensed music for use.
Music purchased online
When you purchase music from an online source, you will be asked to agree to their terms and conditions. This forms a personal contractual arrangement between you and the provider. If you wish to make use of the music that you have purchased online, you must meet the agreed terms and conditions.
In general, if you purchase musical work online, it is for your personal use only.
Music licence
RMIT has a music licence that allows the use of commercial musical works by students for educational purposes. This means you can use the musical works for study, research and assessments, but you must not use them for commercial or promotional activities, including commercial research.
The music licence has been negotiated with the four musical societies that represent music composers, artists, and record labels. A key requirement of the music licence is that the musical works used must be listed in the catalogue of works of the four music societies. Most music released within Australia meets this requirement.
The musical licence allows students to:
- Play musical work in class as part of educational activities for educational purposes.
- Make recordings of university events that include musical works performed in any format for private and domestic purposes only.
- Synchronise musical works or sound recording[s] with video recordings of course-related activity that includes:
- Student analysis of musical works as part of a course related activity.
- Course-related activities where musical works used are for educational purposes.
Requirements for online streaming
Musical works that you intend to stream online must meet these conditions:
- The works must be housed on an RMIT secure network and password-protected,
- They must be in a format that does not allow for downloading and sharing,
- You must register the works with the Library's Copyright service. Email copyright@rmit.edu.au the following details:
- The title of each musical work;
- The name of each composer, lyricist, and arranger of the musical work; and
- If the recording is an ARIA Sound recording, the artist/group name, and the record company label.
Requirements for all musical works placed online
For each musical work placed online, used for educational purposes, course activities, or synchronised with a video, you must include the notice below.:
This recording has been made by the RMIT University under the express terms of an educational licence between it, ARIA, AMCOS, APRIA and PPCA and may only be used as authorised by RMIT University pursuant to the terms of that licence.
Add a credit statement or attribution referencing the creators with the following information:
- The title of each musical work;
- The name of each composer, lyricist, and arranger of the musical work; and
- If the recording is an ARIA Sound recording, the artist/group name, and the record company label.
Definitions
Educational purposes means the sole purpose of using in connection with a particular course of instruction or course of study and/or research of the University, including the necessary administration and assessment of that course, but not including commercial or promotional activities and commercial research.
Synchronise means the process of combining a musical work and/or sound recording with video or still imagery to create an audio-visual recording.
Important!
Public blogging on external sites, such as Blogger.com, Wordpress.org or Typepad offer greater public exposure and a higher risk in relation to using copyright works.
Linking to and embedding someone elses content are the safest options.
Blogging and fair dealing
The fair dealing provisions do not apply to you posting to public sites such as blogger.com, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social media platforms. Fair dealing allows the use of copyright works by students for research and study purposes only.
The fair dealing provisions are closed provisions and only applicable whilst undertaking a course of study, or research. Copyright works (that are not Creative Commons or free licensed works), incorporated into online environments within RMIT, such as blogs or Canvas, can only remain online while you are enrolled in your course. If you are no longer enrolled, it is your responsibility to remove the works.
The fair dealing provisions allow for a ‘reasonable portion’ of a literary, dramatic or musical work to be used for research and study purposes. For artistic works, videos, film and sound recordings there is no simple defined rule as to how much you can copy for research and study purposes. Reasonable is a consideration that applies to the amount of works used as well as the nature of the use.
The fair dealing provisions require you undertake a genuine act of fair dealing - the use of the work for either research and study purposes, or criticism and review purposes.
Quoting, posting, linking and embedding
Quotes and snippets of text
You can include short text quotes from another source in your blog posts without permission from the rights holder if the quote taken is not a substantial part of the original work. Whether a quote is substantial or not is determined by its importance rather than the amount copied, so it can be difficult to quantify.
Reproducing a substantial amount requires permission. You must always attribute the author of the quote.
Images
The safest option is to use the Creative Commons images, or images that allow reuse. Be careful when using Google to find images because you will find both copyright and Creative Commons images in search results. Instead, search Creative Commons images only.
See The Free Stuff section of our Copyright guide for sites that host either free, Creative Commons and licensed images for use.
Film, TV or YouTube videos
Most media content sites, such as news media, YouTube, Vimeo, TV and radio contain a ‘share’ or ‘embed’ option. These are the safest options to use, because the owner of the content is giving you an explicit licence to share their content. Look for and use the share or embed function for content you wish to repost.
Recording, copying, clipping, taking snippets, downloading and uploading are all risky because they could be considered infringing activities.
When using YouTube or Vimeo, only use videos that have been placed online by the copyright holder or an individual, who is authorised to do so. To find the copyright holder of the video, you need to click on details for the uploader. Always check first if the video you wish to embed is not an illegal copy of a work.
You should not post downloaded material unless:
- you have the permission of the copyright owner to do so, or
- where the licence specifically allows you to do so, such as Creative Commons.
You can link to material, unless the website explicitly states linking is not permitted (which is rare). Take care to not link to material that would reasonably be regarded as being pornographic, racially vilifying, cruel or violent, defamatory, abusive, or harassing in nature, invading or interfering the privacy of any person, or material that infringes the intellectual property rights of any person.
See The Free Stuff section of our Copyright guide for sites that host either free, Creative Commons and licensed content for use.
