iTunes U
Copyright & iTunes U - an Overview | Copyright in the Podcast or Other Material | Seeking Permission | Third Party Copyright Material | Using Images | Using Music | Using Films | Using Creative Commons or Open Access Material | Student Lectures & other Course Material | Further Information
iTunes U is a dedicated store on iTunes that provides access to educational material such as podcasts. The University of Melbourne has joined iTunes U making podcasts from across the University available. Users can also subscribe to University of Melbourne podcasts via iTunes.
Copyright & iTunes U – an Overview
There are many issues to consider when deciding whether or not to make a podcast available on iTunes U. An key issue is that of copyright. Any material that is made available on the University iTunes U site must be copyright compliant. Permission needs to be sought from all presenters, performers and/or creators of material and permission needs to be sought for any third party copyright material (i.e. copyright material created by someone other than the presenter or creator) included in the podcast where required.
Under the Copyright Act 1968, all copyright material is divided into categories. There are no specific category for podcasts and vodcasts:
- Audio podcasts are treated as sound recordings
- Video podcats/vodcasts are treated as cinematographic films
- Accompanying PowerPoint slides are treated as literary works and artistic works if they include images
- Transcripts etc are treated as literary works
There are some limited provisions that allow third party copyright material to be included in a podcast without needing permission from the copyright owner, but these are very limited and generally permission will need to be sought.
The following guidelines and information will assist podcast producers to ensure that their podcasts are copyright compliant.
Copyright in the podcast & other material
Each podcast, vodcast or presentation is subject to copyright. In the first instance, copyright is owned by the person who created the work, but this is subject to a number of factors such as whether the work was created as part of a person's employment or whether there is a agreement that assigns or licences copyright a third party. Generally, the following guidelines will apply:
- Material created/presentations given by professional staff - the University of Melbourne will own copyright
- Teaching material created/presentations based on teaching material given by academic staff - the University will own copyright
- Scholarly material created/presentations based on scholarly material given by academic staff - the academic will own copyright.
- Material created/presentations given by students - the student will own copyright
- Material created/presentations given by external or guest speakers - the speaker will own copyright, but this may be subject to conditions of employment or other agreements.
Additionally, all creators or performers will hold moral and/or performers' rights in their work, even if they are not the copyright owner.
Moral rights are the personal rights of the creator of a work to have their work attributed to them and/or not to have their work falsely attributed to another creator. Moral rights also include the right not to have their work subjected to prejudicial or derogatory treatment.
Performers' rights are held by the performer of a work even if they are not the creator or the copyright owner. Performers' rights include:
- the right to control whether or not their performance is recorded or communicated
- ownership of copyright in the sound recordings of their live performance
- moral rights relating to their performance
If there is more than one creator, copyright, moral rights & performers' rights will be held jointly and equally by all creators.
Seeking Permission to include material on iTunes U
Permission will need to be given for any material to be included on the University of Melbourne's iTunes U site. This is particularly important where the University does not own copyright, i.e. when the material is created by an external party, a student or by an academic (in the case of the scholarly material). Even if the University does own copyright, consent from the creator or the performer is still required in regard to their moral and/or performers' rights.
It is University policy that the Presenter's Deed of Consent must be signed by all creators, performers and/or presenters involved in podcasts and other material made available on the University of Melbourne's iTunes U site. This includes, but is not limited to:
- The main presenter or performer
- Facilitors of lectures and events
- Anyone giving or making introductory remarks
- All members of a panel
- All members of a orchestra or choir
- Subjects of photographs
Signed copies of the Presenter's Deed of Consent must be returned to the Copyright Office. Material will not be made available on iTunes U unless all the required consent forms have been received by the Copyright Office.
For further information about seeking permission from presenters or performers, contact the Copyright Office.
Using third party copyright material
Many presentations will include copyright material that has not been created by the presenter or by the University - this is known as third party copyright material. There are only limited provisions in the Copyright Act that allow material to be included in a presentation without permission from the copyright owner. You may include material if:
- You own the copyright for the work.
- The University of Melbourne owns the copyright
- Copyright in the work has expired.
- You are copying or communicating an insubstantial portion.
- You have an express licence to use the work, e.g. a contract, web site conditions, copyright owner has explicitly waived copyright, etc. For more information see Using Creative Commons or Open Access Material
- Your proposed use is a fair dealing for the purpose of criticism and review or parody and satire.
- You have permission from the copyright owner for the use you plan to make.
The statutory licences that the University relies on to make material available to students for educational purposes will not apply. See Student Lectures & iTunes U.
The tertiary music licence that allows the University to use recorded music at University events and for educational purposes will also not apply. See Using Music on iTunes U.
In most cases, you will need to seek permission to include third party copyright material in your presentation from the copyright owner. Permission should be in writing. In some instances, the Copyright Office Permission Service may be able to seek permission on your behalf. For more information, contact the Copyright Office.
You will also need to include citations or acknowledgements on any third party material included in the presentation.
These guidelines also apply to external guests or speakers and it is the responsibility of the person organising the event to ensure that all speakers are aware of their copyright responsibilities and obligations.
Using Images on iTunes U
Images, such as photographs, graphs, diagrams, cartoons, drawings etc, are frequently included in presentations or lectures to illustrate points and to make a presentation more visually interesting or appealing. There are very limited provisions that allow images to be included in presentations without the permission of the copyright owner. Images that have been created by the presenter can be included as can images created by the University.
Take care when using images of artworks where copyright has expired, for example the Mona Lisa. Althought copyright in the original painting has expired, copyright may still apply for images of the painting in books and even in digital images on the web.
If you are using images of people, you will need to get them to sign the Presenter's Deed of Consent.
Using Music on iTunes U
Using music can be very complex. There can be many layers of copyright in a piece of recorded music and this can make it difficult to determine whether or not a piece of music can be played. As for images, the provisions that allow music to be performed without permission are very limited. Even performing music that may be out of copyright, such as Mozart, can be difficult because the sheet music may still be in copyright (if it is a new arrangement or edition) and permission will be needed from the copyright owner of the arrangement or edition.
Using an insubstantial portion of music can also be difficult as there is no clear cut definition of what constitutes "insubstantial". Whether or not a portion is deemed to be substantial depends on how important, key, essential or distinctive the portion is to the overall work. Even a few bars can be considered substantial.
Although the University has a tertiary music licence with the Australian music collecting societies that allows music to be performed at University events and for educational purposes; this will not apply to including music in material as part of iTunes U, as it exceeds the conditions and limitations of the licence.
In most cases, a licence will need to be sought from the Australian music collecting societies - APRA/AMCOS & PPCA. There will most likely be a licencing fee involved.
Using Films on iTunes U
Including extracts of films (this includes TV programs, documentaries, home videos etc) in podcasts on iTunes U can be difficult as, like music, limited provisions apply to using films. Most films are likely to still be in copyright and the same issues apply to using insubstantial portions of films as they do to music. In most cases, permission will need to be sought from the copyright owner to use the film and there will most likely be licencing fees involved.
Using Creative Commons or Open Access Material on iTunes U
Material published on open access or under a creative commons, or similar licence, can be easily reproduced without needing to seek permission from the copyright owner. Generally, the copyright owner licences the material when it is created to allow people to free access and use the material for certain purposes.
Care should be taken if you wish to include creative commons or open access material in your presentation for iTunes U as the terms of the creative commons licence or the terms & conditions of the open access material may not allow the work to be included on iTunes U. Any material made available on the University's iTunes U site is also licenced to Apple for commercial purposes. Many creative commons licences or open access repositories limit use of their material to non-commercial purposes only.
Check the terms & conditions of the any licence agreement carefully and if unsure contact the Copyright Office for advice.
Course Material on iTunes U
Many academic staff may wish to make lectures given as part of teaching a course to students available on iTunes U or else adapt such a lecture to be given as a public lecture. If academics wish to do this, the important point is that the educational provisions in the Part VA & Part VB statutory licences that allow third party copyright material to be reproduced and communicated online as course material will no longer apply. Two of the conditions of the statutory licences is that material reproduced and communicated must be restricted to students and must be for educational purposes as defined in the Copyright Act. Neither of these conditions apply if lectures given to students are part of their course are adapted for the public and/or made available on a publicly available University website or iTunes U.
If student lectures are made publicly available on iTunes U or adapted to be public lectures and placed on a public website, any third party copyright material included under the statutory licences will need to be removed unless another provision as outlined above applies. Alternatively, permission can be sought from the copyright owner to use the material.
Additionally, as the University owns copyright in teaching material created by academics, permission may need to be sought from the University before teaching material can be made available on iTunes U. As there is currently no University policy on making teaching material available on iTunes U, please contact the Copyright Office for advice.
Further Information