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1.15 Liability of schools, TAFE institutes and individuals for copyright infringement

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    1. Technology Protection Measures (TPMs)

      1. Exceptions

        Teachers are permitted to circumvent an access control TPM to make a copy of a work or communicate it under the Statutory Text and Artistic Licence.

        It is not possible to circumvent an access control TPM to exercise any other Statutory Licence or exceptions, such as fair dealing or flexible dealing. 

        (Remember there is no ban on circumventing a TPM. For further information, see information sheet, "Technological Protection Measures and the Copyright Amendment Act 2006").

         

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    2. Rights Management Information

      1. What is RMI?

        RMI is information (or numbers or codes that represent information) attached to or embodied in copyright material, such as a digital watermark which:

        • identifies the copyright work
        • identifies the copyright owner
        • contains any terms or conditions of use in respect of the copyright material
      2. Prohibited acts

        The Copyright Act prohibits:

        • the unauthorised removal or alteration of the RMI
        • importation, distribution or communication of material where the RMI has been tampered with
    3. Liability for breaches of the TPM and RMI provisions of the Copyright Act
      1. Civil

        A student/teacher will be liable for a civil infringement unless they can show that they did not know or suspect that their actions infringed or were likely to infringe copyright in the above ways.

      2. Criminal sanctions

        If a student/teacher commits an offence with the intention of obtaining commercial advantage or profit, they may be liable to fines or even imprisonment. For example, the maximum fine for circumvention of an access control TPM is $6,600.

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