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Research and study

The following information summarises the copyright exceptions available to staff and students who use material for private research and study purposes.

HDR students have particular copyright requirements outlined in more detail in Higher Degree by Research thesis students.

Fair Dealing exceptions

Fair Dealing for specific purposes

The ‘fair dealing’ provisions of the Australian Copyright Act permit individuals to copy limited amounts of copyright material without infringing copyright, for the following specific purposes:

Research or study
Criticism or review
Parody or satire
Reporting news
Enabling a person with a disability to access the material
Professional advice by a lawyer

You are generally not permitted to copy the material in its entirety. Refer to the Fair Dealing ‘reasonable portion’ reuse limits below.

Fair Dealing for research and study

The Fair Dealing provision permits individuals to reuse limited amounts of copyright material, without infringing copyright, as long as the purpose is for private research or study.

Examples of fair dealing for research and study might include copying content:

as part of the research process, such as preparing an article;
for general reading to maintain current awareness in your field of expertise.

Fair Dealing for criticism and review

Under Fair Dealing for criticism or review, individuals may copy limited amounts of copyright material, without infringing copyright, as long as their purpose is to comment critically on the material, or to contrast or compare different material.

Using copyright material for illustrative purposes is not for the purposes of criticism or review.

Examples of fair dealing for criticism and review might include:

a lecturer reusing a work for inclusion in a conference paper for the purpose of commenting critically on the material;
communication between academics for the purpose of criticism and discussion;
students reusing film clips to critique them as part of an assignment.

Fair Dealing reuse limits

When determining if use can be considered a ‘Fair Dealing’ the following five factors need to be considered:

The purpose and character of the use;
The nature of the material;
Whether you could obtain the material within a reasonable time at an ordinary commercial price;
The effect of the use on the potential market for the copyright holder;
How much of the material is used in relation to the whole item.

Type of Material	Copying Limit	Additional Comments
Extracts from a literary or dramatic work (e.g. book, play, novel, journal, newspaper)	Journals/newspapers – One article per issue, or more than one if the articles relate to the same subject. Books – 10% of the words or one chapter (whichever is greater).	Single copy only, for your own individual use. May only make multiple copies if your purpose is ‘criticism or review’. e.g. if you make a tutorial presentation commenting on the work and need to provide students in the tutorial with an extract copy.
Artistic work (e.g. painting, sculpture, cartoon, photograph, diagram)	May copy in its entirety.	Limit to a single copy unless multiple copies required for ‘criticism or review’.
Audio-visual (e.g. sound recordings, film, video)	Little guidance, but amount is quantitative and qualitative.	Seek advice if you want to copy more than a small amount.
Licensed content	Depends on the terms and conditions in the licence agreement.	Licensed content available through the Library generally permits limited copying for non-commercial, personal use.
Website content	Check terms and conditions on website.	Website content generally permits limited copying for non-commercial, personal use.

Research and study

Fair Dealing exceptions

Accordion