Copyright for Students

• Copyright also applies to the Internet. Just because you can access material freely on the Internet does not mean you are free to use it for any purpose.  Always assume that anything you find on the internet is covered by copyright.
• You will need to check the material you want to use for any licence that might inform you of how you can use it. 
• Look for material that is covered by a Creative Commons licence as this material has been shared with a licence which permits you to reuse the content.
• Where possible, link to the material or site in preference to downloading the content. However if the site looks like it actively infringes copyright don’t even link to it. 

• You can legally copy a CD or recording that you own onto your iPod, MP3 player, hard disk or car stereo for your own private and domestic use under the Copyright Act.
• There are many internet sites offering free downloads of music, TV shows, movies and computer software. Unfortunately, many of these are illegal sites and much of the material on offer is pirated and has been made available without the copyright owner’s permission.
• It can be very tempting to download music, movies and TV shows but it is dangerous, as you may be infringing copyright and committing a crime. The movie, music and software industries actively protect their intellectual property and use of file sharing services can be traced easily.
• The Acceptable Use of ICT Facilities and Devices Policy prohibits the use of University computers and other ICT resources to download and store copyright material which is not properly licensed. The University reserves the right to monitor the use of ICT resources, and penalties can be imposed for improper use of University resources. These can include loss of access to ICT facilities, disciplinary action and even suspension of candidature.

• If you are using a reasonable portion of copyright material, you will still need to attribute (cite) where you got the material from. The requirement to acknowledge the creator of a work is part of the moral rights section of the Copyright Act. 
• Acknowledging the source of the work is not the same thing as seeking permission for your intended use. You will need to seek permission if your use does not fall under any exceptions to the Copyright Act.

• The CQUniversity Moral Rights and Intellectual Property Policy outlines copyright ownership for materials you create as a student. In the majority of cases you own the copyright for any material you create as a student at CQUniversity. 
• If you wish to post your work to an external site or publish it in another form, and you have included copyright material owned by a third party (not you) you will need to seek permission from the copyright owner for that use.
• If you wish to post your work to an external site or publish it in another form and your work is substantially similar to the original copyright material in some way, or it can be seen to be clearly derived from the original you will need to seek permission from the original copyright holder to publish you work.

• The Copyright Act 1968 allows institutions to copy materials in order to assist students with a disability that causes “the person difficulty in reading, viewing or hearing copyright material in a particular form.” 
• Under certain conditions, universities may be able to make sound recordings, Braille versions, large-print versions, translations and photographic/picture versions of literary or dramatic works for students, without infringing the copyright owner's rights.
• However, the university must first make a reasonable investigation (i.e. contact the publishers/vendors) that the version required by the person with the disability is commercially available within a reasonable time period at an ordinary commercial price.
• All copies made for CQUniversity must be requested through the Accessibility and Equity Service. Please contact [email protected] for details.
• The Australian Copyright Council  has produced Print Disability Copyright Guidelines  which are available for download.

Australian copyright law has not yet been updated to consider the implications of content created by Artificial Intelligence, such as ChatGPT or Adoble Firefly. Currently in Australia copyright is not present in works created by non-humans. However there is current debate underway about how much “independent intellectual effort” someone needs to apply when using AI tools before copyright is present. 

As there is currently no copyright protection for content generated from AI tools, there are no limits (under copyright law) on the portion of these works that you can use. However, it is best practice to reference use of AI when sharing content. You should also be aware that, some AI tools have made use of content that has been uploaded without the permission of the copyright owner and this may have future legal implications. 

Further information on this topic is available from the Australian Copyright Council Factsheet: Artificial Intelligence & Copyright.

If you want to use AI generated content in your assessment you should follow the “Guidelines for Referencing Large Language Models or Artificial Intelligence in Assessments” to ensure you are meeting CQUniversity’s academic integrity requirements.

There are some key issues you should also be aware of:

• Licence agreements for published papers or resources you access via ‘Library Search’ may prevent you from uploading them to an AI tool. Make sure you read the terms and conditions prior to uploading content to any AI tool. 
• Some AI tools have made use of content that has been uploaded without the permission of the copyright owner and this may have future legal implications.