Smartcopying

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What are "apps"?

Apps are pieces of software that run on a mobile device, such as a smart phone, or an iPod or iPad. As mobile devices increase in popularity – at home and business, as well as in the classroom – a seemingly endless range of apps have become available for purchase. Many of these apps are designed specifically for use by teachers and students.

iTunes apps are purchased from the Apple iTunes store. In order to purchase an iTunes app, you must have an iTunes account.   Apps are also available for other operating systems – for example for the Android Marketplace (for Android devices) or Blackberry AppWorld (for Blackberry devices).

This factsheet considers the iTunes and Google Marketplace app stores specifically, however the same general principles will apply to other app stores you may encounter. 

For further information, contact your local copyright advisor.

How can schools use apps in the classroom?

Importantly, you can only use apps in ways and for purposes permitted  by the terms of use that apply when you purchase the app.

For iTunes apps, the licence to use an app is granted to the iTunes account holder. As discussed below, the account holder may the school or the student. 

Apps purchased by the school

iTunes apps:

Generally speaking, a school cannot buy one copy of an iTunes app and install it on (eg) 30 iPads, for a class to use.  To acquire iTunes apps for student use, a school must, in essence, buy one copy of the app per school-owned device.

The iTunes app terms and conditions permit a school to download and sync an app for use:

• by a single teacher on one or more devices that are used by that teacher but which are owned or controlled by the school (eg on the teacher's Mac laptop and iPad if those devices are provided by the school);
  
• by multiple students, on a single shared device owned by the institution. For example, multiple students can use (but not at the same time) an app on a single iPad that is located in a classroom, library etc, or loaned out to a student. 

A school would be in breach of the app licence terms if it permitted a single app to be used on multiple devices to be used by multiple students.

Apple has developed a bulk licensing model that presently is available only to US educational institutions. It is not clear whether this model will eventually be made available to schools in Australia. 

It is also possible for an app developer to set different terms of use for their particular app – for a particular educational app of interest you could check whether specific terms of use have been prepared by the developer for that app that permit broader educational uses.

Android apps:

As for iTunes apps, Android apps generally can only be used by the person who purchases them.  Currently, there is no bulk-licensing or educational licensing arrangements that enable a school to purchase an Android app for use on multiple devices throughout a school. 

Note however that the developer of an Android app can set the terms on which their particular app is licensed, and might – in the case of educational apps, for example – permit broader use within a school.  To determine whether this is so, you will need to review the Terms of Use or End User Licence Agreement for that particular app. 

Apps purchased by the student

An alternative to a school purchasing iTunes apps for use on school-owned devices is for the school to provide students with gift cards (or use the 'gifting' function within iTunes, for example) for the student to purchase and install the apps on the student's own device.  In this approach, apps are purchased by the student using his or her own iTunes account, and are used on the student’s own device rather than the school's.  
 

Can a school rely on Part VB, or s 200AB, to make copies of apps?

The Part VB statutory licence (which permits much photocopying and electronic copying by educational institutions) does not apply to software, such as apps. 

Nor will the flexible dealing exception in s 200AB of the Copyright Act generally be able to be relied on to make copies of apps for distribution to students. This exception cannot be relied on if the app that you want to copy can be purchased.

For further information on the Part VB statutory licence, see the information sheet 'Education Licence B: Statutory Text and Artistic Licence'. 

For further information on the flexible dealing exception (s200AB), see the information sheet 'Flexible Dealing'. 

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