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Copyright and legal re-use

Contains information on using (and re-using) material that isn't your own, and the limits that apply to this use.

Using artistic work

TYPES OF WORK HOW TO USE FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES
  For Students For Teaching Staff For Publishing

Artistic Work
Includes: Architectural Plans, Buildings, Cartoons, Craft Works, Drawings, Maps, Paintings, Photographs, Plans, and Sculptures.

Can be copied in entirety.
Attribution required.

Permission required from both Copyright Owner and Moral Rights Holder.
Usage fees may apply.
Attribution required.

Includes: ALL images, but specifically images found online (e.g. Google Images, Pixabay, Flickr)

Part of the Public Domain (CC0), marked as Copyright-Free, or Out of Copyright?
Free to use (permission not required) - Can be copied in entirety - Attribution optional

Using artistic work

Specific information for students on how to (re)use this type of work for educational purposes (assignments, projects, etc.):
 
  • From print sources (books, journal articles, etc)
    You may copy the whole artistic work, but don't forget to reference/attribute it.
     
  • From online sources
    You may copy the whole artistic work as long as the terms of use of the website (or licence/contract) do not state otherwise. Where possible, look for images that have a Creative Commons licence or are listed as being CC0 (Creation Commons Zero OR Public Domain).
Specific information for teaching staff on how to (re)use this type of work for educational purposes (PowerPoint presentations, handouts, etc.):
 
  • From print sources (books, journal articles, etc)
    You may copy the whole artistic work, but don't forget to reference/attribute it.​
     
  • From online sources
    You may copy the whole artistic work as long as the terms of use of the website (or licence/contract) do not state otherwise. Where possible, look for images that have a Creative Commons licence or are listed as being CC0 (Creation Commons Zero OR Public Domain).


All material copied under the Statutory Licence and communicated to students (LMS upload, email, etc) must have a warning notice attached near the front of the material (for example, as the second slide of a PowerPoint presentation after the title page). If the New Statutory Licence - Reproduction Notice PDF (see link below) is not used, then the following notice text must be included in entirety:

WARNING 
This material has been reproduced and communicated to you by or on behalf of The University of Notre Dame Australia in accordance with section 113P of the Copyright Act 1968 (Act).
The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further reproduction or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act.
Do not remove this notice.
Specific information for researchers on how to (re)use this type of work for publishing purposes (thesis, journal article, book chapter, etc.):
 
  • From print sources (books, journal articles, etc)
    Permission is required from the copyright owner to use the appropriately referenced artistic work in a publication. If you are not able to find or contact the copyright owner, please contact the Copyright Officer for assistance.​
     
  • From online sources
    Permission is required from the copyright and moral rights owner(s) to use the appropriately referenced artistic work in a publication. If you are not able to find or contact the copyright owner, please contact the Copyright Officer for assistance. Usage fees may apply.

Finding copyright-friendly material

The following lists of sites contain sources of subscribed resources for University staff and students, Creative Commons works, and public domain content.

Artistic work can be copied under the "fair dealing" provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), without obtaining the copyright owner's permission, so long as the copying is for the purposes of "research or study" or "criticism or review.

"Artistic work" for copyright purposes includes paintings, sculpture, cartoons, photographs, illustrations, etc. It does NOT include moving images or animations - these would normally be defined as films (see separate section on copying 'Sound recordings and film/video clips').

The artistic work can be copied in its entirety - it is not necessary to limit yourself to 10% of it. To be fair, you should normally limit yourself to a single copy unless multiple copies are required for purposes of criticism or review.

An exception to this is where you wish to publish other people's work within your own. Permission is always required in this case.

IMPORTANT: You must provide the relevant attribution/reference next to the image/photograph, or close by (eg on the edge or bottom of the page) if that is too obtrusive.

Subscribed and licensed material

The University Library subscribes to the following resources that contain artistic work for you to use in your teaching, research or study.

Creative Commons material

With Creative Commons (CC) licences, creators can tell the world that they’re happy for their work to be copied, shared or even remixed. When a creator releases their work under a CC licence, you know what you can and can’t do with the work. As a result, you can freely copy, share and sometimes modify and remix CC material without having to worry about copyright, as long as you follow the licence.


There are a number of content repositories that allow you to search their website for CC licensed content. You can do this using many popular search engine and search tools.

Public Domain material

The fact that something is on the internet does not mean that it is "copyright-free" or "in the public domain" in either of these senses. Public Domain artistic works are those in which copyright has expired, or where the copyright owner has given very broad permissions to people to use it freely.