Reports from our 2017 Meetings
Reports from our 2017 Meetings
This month we had a look at copyright and how it affects a website. This information is drawn from the links below and is a brief summary of what may affect the ownership of the content of a website.
Please Note: This is not legal advice, it should not be relied on for protection of any rights.
The information is drawn from three main sources, The Australian Copyright Council
the Arts Law
Centre of Australia
Starting with “Introduction to Copyright”; the Australian Copyright Council information sheet pdf file
and Arts Law Centre of Australia Information sheet "Copyright"
You must have created something to have copyright of it, an idea or though cannot be copyrighted
No need to register it; its automatic on creation;
literary works; dramatic works; musical works; and
artistic works which including works of artistic craftsmanship.
films; sound recordings; broadcasts; and published editions.
70 years after the death of the author of the material
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.
belongs to the creator or author of the work, to the maker of the film or sound recording. The publisher owns the published work, for example I write a book on Web Design and Harper Collins publishes it, that is prints a first edition.
In that example I own the copyright of the work, Harper Collins owns the copyright on the first edition published
Ownership can be assigned, that is sold or licenced. If you assign the new person or assignee gets all your rights. If you licence, the you give certain right to the licensee
People can quote your work for study, research and comment however it cannot be of a “substantial nature”. To quote the Arts Law Information sheet
"Substantial part" means a vital or important part of the copyright material, based on the quality rather than the quantity of copyright material used. It is assessed by reference to the copyright material allegedly used, not the new work.
Again, to quote Arts Law Information sheet
“If you think someone has infringed your copyright, you should contact them, possibly by sending a letter
of demand. For more information, see Arts Law's information sheet on Copyright Infringement and Arts
Law’s template Letter of Demand for copyright infringement .If a court agrees that your copyright has
been infringed, you can get an order from a court that:
the person must stop the infringement (an injunction); and
you are paid money for the use of your work (damages or account of profits);
If the person wants to continue using your copyright material, you can grant a licence under terms you
should agree mutually.”
This information is based on the information sheets from The Australian Copyright Council “Websites and Copyright” and “Websites and User Generated Content” These are PDFs and can be downloaded from this page.
Copyright is not limited to physical works like books or paintings, it includes webpage content.
The web page is not protected under copyright but the “component parts” should be.
That is the text, video, images, and code would have copyright.
In summary, articles, blogs, and most written text is covered under “Literary works”
Photos, logos, illustrations and graphic elements are covered under “Artistic Works”
Recorded audio and songs including musical scores are covered under “musical Works”
While video and animations are covered under “Cinematography Films”
However, it should be noted that copyright only applies to “original” works that is the things you created.
This information is taken from Australian Copyright Council’s PDF Information sheet “Websites and User-Generated Content”.
Generally, you need permission to use third party material.
You can use anything not subject to copyright, however the question you should ask “Is this material subject to copyright?” also you can use anything for which copyright has expired. You can use small quotes from other sources, subject to “Fair Dealing”, that is it must not be of a substantial nature. See under “What if your work is stolen”.
It’s unlikely that a simple link to a site would be a problem however you should read the section on “linking to content on other sites” in Australian Copyright Council’s Information sheet. Caution should be exercised in using iframe to display third party sites in your site as it could be mistaken for content on your site and be considered as "substantial use".
The user usually retains their copyright subject to any agreements regarding posting on your site, think “FaceBook”.
Make sure anyone posting on your site doesn’t violate copyright.
Make sure any agreements on your site are not broader than the permissions you were given.
This is an idea for the distribute of copyright material to the public.
To quote the Arts Law Information sheet on Creative Commons
“Creative Commons (CC) is an international non-profit organisation which provides a set of free, generic licences which creators of intellectual property can use to distribute their work to the public. It works on the idea of a shared digital “commons” for work that has “some rights reserved” rather than “all rights reserved”
There are various licences for commercial or non-commercial use and definitions of such things like how your work can be used and alterations that can be made.
In general, if you are happy to see your work licenced for reuse then Creative Commons maybe for you if on the other hand, you wish to keep your rights then stay with the ordinary copyright.
Steve South
Sig Leader