Visual content	Issues for visual content	Image production	Image acquisition	Image manipulation	Image creation

It is important to realise, that just because images are easy to acquire, by scanning from a book or magazine, or downloading from a website, you do not automatically have the right to use them. In fact even saving them to disk has copyright implications.

Australian Copyright Law

Copyright material includes anything copied from magazines, newspapers, books or websites, or any work created by another person (it does not have to have been published).

Fair dealing' provisions within Australian copyright law allow copying for the purpose of criticism or review, whether of that work or another work, provided there is sufficient acknowledgement of the work copied; or for the purpose of research or study.

This does not include creating multiple copies, or publishing to the web, for distribution to students, which is subject to special laws relating to using copyright material in educational contexts.

A license for copying of material for education must be purchased by individual institutions. Material used for educational purposes must have restricted access (ie only enrolled students get access to the material, whether it be printed, on CD-ROM or on the web), and a license form must be completed tallying the items copied and published. This is the responsibility of the person doing the copying (ie, scanning, downloading and copying to disk).

Items must also be accompanied by a notice indicating both the source of the material, and the copyright license under which it was copied. This is the responsibility of the person publishing the material (distributing it to students via print, web etc).

If you would like to have less restrictive use of the material, copyright clearance in writing from the copyright holder must be obtained.

In some cases this is as easy as emailing the author of a website, and asking if you can use some of the material in your course. In other cases, multiple permissions must be obtained (author, artist, employer, publisher or a third party who has acquired the copyright) and use of the material may incur a fee. In either case, it must be made clear exactly how you intend to use the material, and clearance will cover that particular use only.

Summary:

• Copyright material includes any work created by another person (published or not).
• 'Fair dealing' allows the copying of a work for the purposes of review, criticism, research or personal study. Sufficient acknowledgement of the work is required. Creating multiple copies or publishing to the web for distribution to students is not covered by this provision.
• 'Educational license' may be acquired by your institution to allow copying for students, or publishing to a restricted website. You will need to keep a record of what you copy, and submit it for audit.
• Any other use of copyright material must be cleared with the owner of the copyright, who may be the author, employer, publisher etc. A fee may be payable.