Copying For Educational Purposes

Australian copyright law allows copyright materials to be copied for educational purposes. The education licence managed by Copyright Agency also allows educators to copy and share text, images and print music for educational purposes.

Formats include:
• digital or hardcopy
• online or offline
• Australian or foreign content
• published or unpublished content

Types of content can be:
A ‘work’ is an item of text or an image created by a single ‘author’ or authors. An ‘edition’ (such as a book, journal or newspaper), or a publishing platform such as a website or CD ROM, may contain many ‘works’. For example, in a newspaper, each article, opinion piece, letter to the editor, cartoon and photograph is a separate ‘work’.

Amount of content allowed to be copied:
A teacher may use only a ‘reasonable portion’ of a work, not the entire work. For some content, a specified proportion is deemed to be a ‘reasonable portion’. More than this specified proportion can be a ‘reasonable portion’.

Hardcopy
If the work is published as edition of 10 or more pages:
• 10% of the number of pages, or
• a chapter (if more than 10% of the pages

Digital
If the work is published:
• 10% of the words
• a chapter (if more than 10% of the words)
• 10% of a musical work

The above is adapted from Copying Under the Education Licence, the Copyright Agency. The information is for general guidance only. For further information on using copyright materials, please check with the Library.