Deakin University Copyright Guidelines and Requirements
Definitions
‘Copyright’ is defined as:
the exclusive right, granted by law for a certain terms of years, to make and dispose of copies of, and otherwise to control, a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work.
The Macquarie Dictionary, 2nd edn, (The Macquarie Library, Macquarie University, NSW, 1991)
The Copyright Act 1968 regulates and protects original intellectual and artistic creations ‘in material form’ (apart from trivial expressions, slogans, titles or names, which may be protected as registered trade marks or under other legislation, like the Trade Practices Act, Design Act). The expression ‘in material form’ simply means works in a form which can be reproduced (written down, recorded on tape or stored in computer memory). Copyright does not protect ideas or information; it protects the form in which ideas and information are expressed or reproduced.
The Copyright Act gives copyright holders certain rights over the works they either created (through intellectual or artistic labour) or ‘own’ (through financial investment or other proprietary interest). One of the rights which copyright holders most commonly exercise is the right to limit the ‘reproduction’ and/or ‘communication’ of their work. We communicate a copyright work when we make it available online (uploading it onto a university server or into DSO for example) or when we electronically transmit the work as an electronic file or email attachment.
How long does copyright last?
Copyright in unpublished works remains in perpetuity. In the case of published
works, copyright lasts for 70 years after either
1) the creation of the work, or
2) the first publication, or
3) death of the author (whichever was the latest to occur).
MORE COPYRIGHT DEFINITIONS
Insubstantial Parts
‘Publication’
‘Communication’
Adaptation
Materials Protected by Copyright
Copyright Protection
Duration of Copyright
Ownership
Moral Rights
Exclusive rights
