Lectopia @ UWA - Lectopia and Copyright

Lectopia is records from a variety of sources as part of the normal recording process. Therefore any material that is presented to students in a lecture is usually recorded. Depending on the recording option that the lecturer has chosen, this can include video cassettes, DVDs, CDs, PowerPoint slides, and your computer screen. This page provides information about the copyright restrictions and requirements, as they impact Lectopia recordings.

Copyright Agreements

The Commonwealth of Australia Copyright Act 1968 (& amendments) allows limited copying and communication of copyright works for the educational purposes of the University. In addition to this, the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee (AVCC) has negotiated a licence agreement between Australian music societies and many of Australia's universities, including UWA. By way of these agreements UWA staff can legally record and communicate particular copyright material for educational purposes. In particular, this includes:

Broadcast audio visual works (e.g. recordings from TV and Radio)
Musical works covered by the Music Collecting Societies

In the case of broadcast audio visual works, the agreement is administered by Screenrights - a copyright collection agency. This agreement also covers any music material that has been recorded from broadcast TV and radio. Examples of use of material that are covered by this agreement include:

playing a 10 minute interview from 60 Minutes
playing a full episode of The Simpsons that was recorded from TV
playing a 15 minute segment from ABC Radio

Commercial musical works can also be recorded and are covered by the agreement with the Music Collecting Societies, although it should be noted that any recordings featuring commercial music works must only be made available in streaming format - download of music material is expressly prohibited. All music recorded under this license must come from original, commercially produced recordings of any format. Example of use of material that is covered by this agreement include:

playing a track from a music CD
playing an LP

Pre-recorded or commercial video material is not covered by any existing agreement. It is therefore prohibited to record this material as part of an Lectopia recording, unless specific permission has been sought from the Copyright Holder.

For up-to-date information about copyright limitations and permissions, please refer to the Legal Services Copyright website.

Requirements for Lecturers

The benefits of the various Copyright Agreements for teaching and learning purposes are clear. However, to meet the requirements of each of the agreements, lecturers and other staff must report on their use of relevant copyright material in their teaching. In the case of Lectopia, material that is covered by the copyright agreements must be documented so that it can be reported on as and when required by the agreements.

To facilitate this, the Lectopia Staff Tool provides a way for lecturers to document the copyright material that has been used in each lecture. Lecturers are required to undertake this activity as part of the permission to record agreement. For instructions on using the Staff Tool to report on your use of copyright material, refer to the relevant section in the Lectopia Staff Tool Guidelines.