Most of the content items incorporated in a web page are protected by copyright. For example:

• text (protected as a ‘literary work’)
• graphic icons (protected as ‘artistic works’)
• charts and tables of information
• moving images may be protected as a ‘cinematograph film’
• recorded sounds may be protected as a ‘sound recording’.

Copyright is also likely to subsist in multimedia works and in computer programs.

Because it is easy to get access to different websites, and to download, reproduce and disseminate their content, internet users can infringe copyright holders’ exclusive copyright rights in their material.

This may be largely due to the common, mistaken belief that material posted on the internet is not protected by copyright.

If a copyright owner places content on an internet site, you should check the terms of use for that material. This may be contained in a copyright notice. Accessing (ie simply viewing) the material does not raise copyright issues.

A copyright notice is necessary to advise users of their responsibilities.

Using copyright material

If you intend to use copyright material in your own publication—including Commonwealth of Australia copyright material—you must seek prior permission from the copyright holder. You should do this well before the publication date. To avoid delays in publishing, you should ask for permission as soon as you have identified the material intended for use.

The Government agreed in principle on 3 May 2010 with the Government 2.0 Taskforce’s recommendation that ‘Consistent with the need for free and open reuse and adaptation, Public Sector Information(PSI) released should be licensed under the Creative Commons BY standard as the default’.

This licence allows users to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt material for commercial and non-commercial purposes, subject to attribution.

Legal issues about copyright

If you would like to restrict the copying or other copyright uses of your material, you should make this clear through a copyright notice.

Providing links or hyperlinks to another website does not raise copyright issues. However, it is preferable to check with content manager of the website that you may create links to that website.

You should also make it clear to users of your material what third party copyright material has been used in your publication or website.

Creative Commons licence 2.5 vs. 3.0

The Australian Creative Commons licence Version 3 is available. This is the most current version of the Australian Creative Common licences. Agencies should release any new material using this version if they have determined to licence the particular material under Creative Commons. Agencies that have licensed existing works under the version 2.5 licence (past version, superseded 07/06/2010) may want to consider re-releasing these works under the latest version. These works will not be automatically licensed under the new version and remain subject to the terms of the version 2.5 licence.

Subjects:

• Copyright