Using Books & Literary Works for Educational Purposes
For a general information about copyright see Overview of Copyright. For more information about copyright & literary works see Literary Works. See also: Using Journal Articles for Educational Purposes
- What do you need to do?
- Copying from Anthologies
- Copying Computer Software
- Readings Online can help!
- Further Information
Under the Copyright Act, books are treated as literary works. The category of literary works also includes journal articles, anthologies, emails, poems, computer software, databases, tables & compilations. The University can reproduce and/or communicate literary works as well as other textual material for educational purposes. Communicate means to make the item available online or to email or fax the item to someone. You can:
- scan print literary works to create an electronic copy to place online on the LMS,
- make a copy of literary works to include it in a course pack,
- make multiply copies to give as handouts in class,
- print out an electronic literary work to include in a course pack or give as a handout.
What do you need to do?
Some conditions and limitation apply:
- Limit the amount copied - you may reproduce or communicate 10% or 1 chapter of a literary or dramatic work which ever is greatest. You can copy more than 10% or 1 chapter if the work:
- is out of print
- is a published edition
- has never been published or separately published, i.e. is only available as part of a collection. There are additional guidelines if the work is part of an anthology.
- is not commercially available at a reasonable price in a reasonable time
- There are no limits on the number of copies that you can make e.g. if there are 400 students in the course, you can make 400 copies, plus spares.
- It must be for educational purposes - educational purposes are defined as reproducing or communicating material for a particular course of instruction or for the administration of that course. They also cover reproducing material to be included in a library collection. Educational purposes do not cover general or commercial activities of the University, such as marketing and promotion.
- You must attribute each work with a full citation - for information about correctly citing material see: Citation Styles within the University.
- If placing textual material online you must also:
- Restrict access to University of Melbourne staff and students - material can be placed on a LMS but not on an open access website.
- Include a copyright warning notice on each work - the notice should appear either before the item is opened or on the first page of the item. Copies of the notices are available here.
- Register the work with the Copyright Office - any textual material placed online must be registered with the Copyright Office.
- Instructions on inserting the copyright notice and registering material are available in the Do-It-Yourself & Online Course Material guide.
Copying from Anthologies
You may copy a literary or dramatic work from an anthology for educational purposes if it does not exceed 15 pages, regardless of whether the anthology is in print or electronic format. The electronic anthology must be in a format that is paginated, e.g. a pdf file. If the work exceeds more than 15 pages, you may only copy a reasonable portion of the work (i.e. 10% or one chapter if the work includes chapters) unless the work has not be separately published.
You may copy multiple works from the same anthology so long as they do not exceed 15 pages. However, it is not the intention of the Copyright Act to allow the whole anthology to be copied in this manner.
Copying Computer Software
There are no provisions for reproducing or communicating computer software. If you wish to reproduce or communicate computer software for educational purposes, you will need to request permission from the copyright owner.
Readings Online can help!
Readings Online is a service that can make your reading materials available online via the LMS. Simply provide a reading list to Readings Online and they will do the rest. For more information visit the Readings Online website.
Further Information
- Overview of Copyright
- Do-It-Yourself & Online Course Material
- Creating a Course Pack - a cheat sheet
- Online Teaching Resources & Copyright - a guide from the Copyright Office
- Introduction to Copyright -a guide from the Copyright Office
- Using Copyright Material for Research or Study
- Fast-Find Index - an A-Z glossary of copyright terms and topics
- Contact the University Copyright Office
Content updated 17/01/08