Smartcopying

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3. Flexible dealings 

   Schools and TAFE institutes can now use web pages for non-commercial teaching purposes if the use is not covered by another exception or Statutory or Voluntary Licence. The majority of text and artistic works on the Internet, as well as podcasts of free-to-air TV shows, and radio will be covered by a Statutory Licence. The flexible dealings exception will not usually apply to this material.

   For material not covered by a Statutory or Voluntary Licence (eg film, computer games, multimedia works and some sound recordings), teachers must assess whether:

   • the proposed use is narrow
   • it would conflict with a normal way the copyright owner exploits the material and
   • the use would unreasonably harm the copyright owner

   One example of an activity covered by the flexible dealings exception is a teacher copying a home video that has been made available on a website such as MySpace or YouTube to show in class.

   Teachers should always be careful not to use material in class that may itself be infringing (eg an extract from a movie currently in the cinemas which may have been uploaded to the Internet without the copyright owner's permission).
   

4. Educational exceptions
   1. Reading or performing website material in class

      Copyright is not infringed by a teacher or student reading material from the Internet, or playing a game, song or film from a webpage in class.

   2. Communicating website material in class

      Schools and TAFE institutes are allowed to communicate website material to facilitate classroom performance (eg streaming music from a webpage for students to listen to or accessing web material in a virtual classroom).

5. Other statutory exceptions
   1. Temporary copies and technical reproductions

      It is not a copyright infringement to make a temporary reproduction of a print work, artistic musical work or audio-visual work if the reproduction is part of the technical process of communicating that work (eg copies made on a hard drive while browsing the Internet). [Link to Proxy Caching Information Sheet]

      See Internet and Websites 2.8: Other Relevant Issues: (i) Browsing and (ii) Caching

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6. Statutory Licences 

   There are two relevant Statutory Licences applicable to Internet materials.

   1. Statutory Broadcast Licence 

      Much broadcast material is available on the Internet as a webcast or podcast. Schools and TAFE institutes can copy and communicate a television or radio show that has been broadcast on freetoair television/radio and then made available on the broadcaster's website (eg an episode of Australian Story available for download on the ABC's website).

      The Statutory Broadcast Licence does not allow schools and TAFE institutes to copy or communicate on-line versions of subscription TV and radio programs (eg, a download of a Foxtel program) or any material that has not previously been broadcast (eg a podcast on a television channel's website containing content that has not been broadcast on television such as extra scenes, or a podcast made to accompany the show).

      See 2.7: Television and Radio Broadcasts

      See Education Licence A: Statutory Broadcast Licence

   2. Statutory Text and Artistic Licence

      Part VB of the Copyright Act provides a special Statutory Licence which allows educational institutions to copy and communicate text works (literary, musical, dramatic and artistic works) to students for educational purposes.

      See Education Licence B: Statutory Text and Artistic Licence

      Practical tips on using the Internet under the Text and Artistic Statutory Licence

      If a school or TAFE wishes to rely on the Statutory Text and Artistic Licence to copy from the Internet, it should:

      • search the site to see whether it states that copying by way of download or printing material from the website may be done for non-commercial or educational purposes
      • send an email to the webmaster to establish whether the material has been separately published
      • if the material has not been separately published and the site or webmaster does not expressly state that you can print out or download material from the website, you will need to establish whether the material is available in electronic form within a reasonable time
      • if the material is separately published and available within a reasonable time, then you must only copy within the rules set out in the Statutory Licence – generally 10 % of pages or 1 chapter for paginated electronic files (eg PDFs or PowerPoints) or 10% of the words of the work for other electronic material
      • if the material is not separately published or available within a reasonable time, then you may copy, print or download material without limitation, provided it is for an educational purpose

      Downloading audio material (eg sound, film and game files) from the Internet is not covered by a Statutory Licence. You should always check the website's copyright notice to see if downloading (copying) is permitted by the website's owner (eg a notice that says the material is NEALS Content or free for educational use). Sometimes downloading may be covered by the flexible dealings exception if it is for classroom use.

      See 1.13: Copyright exceptions

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7.    Other relevant issues
   1. Browsing

      Every time a user browses a webpage, a copy of the content of that page is transmitted and stored in the electronic memory (RAM) of the user's computer.

      Browsing or simply viewing copyright material on a website falls under the exception that allows temporary reproductions to be made as part of a technical process or as part of making and receiving a communication. This exception covers any reproduction that occurs automatically and for technical reasons in the course of looking at or listening to a work or film or sound recording stored on a website.

   2. Caching 

      Caching is a generic term for the storage – usually temporary – of website material. There are four common activities which might sometimes be referred to as caching:

      • Browser caching  – where webpages viewed by a user are temporarily stored on a user's hard drive. If the use hits the 'back' button on their browser, the webpage will be shown from the browser cache rather than re-downloading the site from the Internet.
      • Proxy caching  – proxy caches are system level or network level caches that follow a similar principle to browser caching, except the proxy cache sits on the school’s/TAFE institute’s firewall or proxy server and is shared by all staff and students. When a network user views a web page, a copy of that page is temporarily stored in the proxy cache. Subsequent visitors to that website will view the cached copy rather than re-downloading the site from the Internet.

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