FAQs: Copyright and using audio or audio-visual content

Yes, the Copyright Act does provide an allowance whereby staff (or students) may show a legitimate copy of a DVD, video or TV program copied under the Part VA 'Screenrights' licence in class for the purpose of educational instruction. The audience must be limited to students and teachers involved in the course or unit, or to people who are otherwise directly associated with the unit or the University. This allowance may not be relied upon for performances unassociated with a particular course or unit of study (ie, club film nights, promotional activities of the University) or where members of the public are included in the audience. Note also that if you had agreed with a supplier or vendor to use the DVD/film content only for private domestic performance or 'home viewing', then the special allowance won't apply and playing the content in a class may breach your contract with the vendor/ supplier.

• The Universities' Music Licence also allows certain uses of music CDs in class and for certain University events as well.
• Refer also to the Universities Australia: Guidelines for using audiovisual materials (PDF)

The Screenrights Licence is an educational statutory licence established within Part VA of the Copyright Act 1968. Under this licence, broadcast material can be copied for the educational purposes of Monash University, including podcasts of broadcast content made available by the broadcaster on their website. As a result of various international intellectual property treaties (WIPO, Rome Convention), the podcasts made available on certain foreign broadcaster websites are also able to be used in reliance on the Part VA Screenrights licence. But note that not all countries are included

• List of countries whose broadcast content/podcasts may be included under Screenrights licence. To date, this list does NOT include USA, China, Singapore, New Zealand or Hong Kong.

Yes, programs can be recorded at home by staff, but the disks/tapes must be labelled as follows, to comply with the licence:

Made for Monash University under Part VA of the Copyright Act 1968.
This program was transmitted on [insert date, time & channel].
This copy was made on [insert date].

If the digital recording is saved as a file (rather than onto a tangible format like a disk) you will not have to attach the above notice but you will, instead, need to display the Part VA warning notice so that viewers see this notice before or at the same time as the recorded content plays on screen.

Yes, provided that their university is also operating under the Screenrights licence. Their copy will have to be marked in the usual manner. Those participating in the Screenrights licence are not permitted to loan their own copies but may make first or further copies on behalf of another participating institution for 'educational purposes' of that institution, including:

• use to teach students;
• making the copy available to students as part of a course of study at the University; and
• retention in the University library or elsewhere (eg by a staff member) as a teaching resource

The copies cannot be sold or otherwise supplied for a financial profit; or given to an educational institution which does not have a current licence under Part VA.

Yes, but if the copy is then retained by the staff member it will have to be marked in the usual manner to make it a legitimate Screenrights copy (and preferably held on the University premises whilst in use during semester, in case we are sampled by Screenrights). For labelling requirements refer to the question above 'Can I record TV or radio programs at home..?' and the see the information on the Teaching page (sound and vision section)

Yes, but the recording must display the Part VA copyright warning notice before or at the same time as the content is able to be accessed. You also need to keep a record of this 'communication online', in case we are sampled by Screenrights (an appropriate record would include: program title, broadcast source details, duration of program or excerpt thereof, date broadcast, date copy made and date communicated).

No, broadcast content made available online in reliance on Part VA must not be available for access by the general public. Only staff and students of the University or of another university with a current Screenrights Licence can have access to content recorded in reliance on Part VA. To make the content available on the public Monash web you'll need permission from the broadcaster.

Enhance TV is a website run by Screenrights that allows staff to browse the week's TV viewing or search for relevant TV programs by subject category. 

Staff can order copies of broadcasts through the relevant subject librarian - and refer to the information at Teaching (sound and vision section)

The Library also has a subscription to the TVNews database (Informit media).

Various universities across Australia and designated Education Resource Centres also provide copies off-air recordings service. Under the Screenrights-Part VA licence staff may request a copy from such services. For example, the off-air recording unit at Queensland University of Technology regularly assist Monash staff with such requests
Contact: QUT order form

Yes, it may be possible, depending on the circumstances. You may be able to purchase a copy from another 'Screenrights' university or from one of the Education Resource Centres like QUT, Tape Services SA (based in South Australia), EnhanceTV or Request TV. These services have an extensive catalogue of taped material for sale, and provide search functions to assist in identifying desired content. This method of obtaining off-air recordings is usually cheaper than obtaining the same content directly from the TV station that originally broadcast the program.

Any copies of radio and television broadcasts - meaning recorded from TV or radio under the Screenrights licence (ie not purchased series from retail outlets) - can be used for the educational purposes of the University, provided they comply with the usual licence requirements: ensure the VA label is displayed on the physical copy; limit access to staff and students; and (for electronic formats) ensure the Part VA copyright warning notice is displayed before or at the same time as the content is viewed on screen.

Unless we can be absolutely sure that the footage on YouTube is put there by the copyright owner (maybe an individual, an organisation, a company) it is safer not to play, download or copy the YouTube content. We also can't direct students to play or download it for themselves, as this could be seen as the University authorising the students to infringe copyright.

However, if it is clear that the content on YouTube isn't infringing (for example, film footage provided by the London zoo (ZSL) for display on YouTube, where they hold the copyright and are seeking to promote their activities through YouTube) we may be safe to show that YouTube footage in a class, just as we might display any other non-infringing website or DVD film during an actual class (ie don't copy or download the content but just access it in class). (Section 28 of the Australian Copyright Act provides for this where the audience is limited to staff and students involved in educational instruction and no fee is charged).

YouTube is always problematic because it's so easy to access (and, in some cases, download content) from the site. There are definitely some items accessible in YouTube that are placed there legitimately by the copyright holders ... but for a lot of the content, it may be very hard to tell whether it is authorised by the copyright holder or not. A lot of it is obviously infringing.

The 'user terms' attached to the YouTube site at http://www.youtube.com/t/terms
begin with the words "By using and/or visiting this website (collectively, including all content and functionality available through the YouTube.com domain name, the "YouTube Website", or "Website"), you signify your agreement to (1) these terms and conditions..."
There's no 'click to agree' to these, and it isn't clear, as to whether these could be deemed legally binding, but some legal experts think they could be.

In some cases it will simply be safer to play (in class) video content that is from legitimately purchased DVDs or recorded from a broadcast under the Screenrights Licence. For advice on where to obtain copies, refer to the information at Teaching (sound and vision section)