Key terms and phrases

ACU owned material

As an employee of ACU, the University owns copyright in the works (literary, dramatic, artistic or musical) you create in the course of your employment, within the scope of your employment agreement.

Any variation of this is outlined in the ACU Intellectual Property Policy.

All Rights Reserved

When a copyright work is created in Australia, the copyright owner obtains a suite of legally enforceable rights.These rights are defined in the Copyright Act 1968, and can be bought, sold or licensed.

A copyright owner can use the term 'All Rights Reserved' to indicate they retain all their rights.

Students and researchers at ACU can still copy and use All Rights Reserved material, using a part of copyright law known as Fair Dealing.

All Rights Reserved - Teachers

As a teacher at ACU you are able to use All Rights Reserved marked works because ACU pays licenses which allow teachers to copy and provide this material to students. These licences vary depending on the type of work.

Text, images or broadcasts

ACU holds statutory licences which allows you to copy the material and use for educational purposes.

Check the Information sheet for statutory licences for rights and obligations under this licence.

Musical works

ACU has a voluntary licence and can copy the sound recording and use within ACU.

Check the Information sheet for voluntary music licence for rights and obligations under the licence

Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a licensing system that provides a way for creators, companies and institutions to share their work with others on flexible terms without infringing copyright. The licences allow users to reuse, remix and share the content legally. It is also known as Open Access.

Offering work under a Creative Commons licence does not mean giving up copyright. It means permitting users to make use of works material in various ways, but only on certain conditions.

For students and researchers

Creative Commons enables you to use more than the limits under fair dealing for research and study. It also allows other uses like placing on the internet.

For teachers

Using Creative Commons material allows you to use more than the limits under statutory or voluntary licences, and there is no associated cost.

Finding Creative Commons Licenced material

• Start with the Library guide to finding open access resources
• Use Creative Commons search to find material for your research or study
• Use ‘CC’ or ‘Creative Commons’ when conducting you search

Using Creative Commons/Open Access material

• Check the licensing of Creative Commons materials before you use them
• Always attribute the material you use appropriately, including citations where appropriate

Licensed material

As an educational institution, ACU purchases a range of material to use for educational purposes, for example the Library purchases databases or online videos.

These must be used within the terms of the licence. Check with your Faculty or the Library for terms of use.

Public Domain

When the copyright on material has expired it goes into the Public Domain. This material can be used any way you like.

The length of time before material enters into the public domain can vary, but is usually 70 years. See length of copyright for further information.

Using Public Domain material

There is no legal requirement to provide attribution of public domain material. However, providing attribution is best practice. This could include:

• a citation list or bibliography
• a credits list at the end of a video
• verbal thanks at the end of a recital or music program
• a reference slide at the end of a PowerPoint presentation
• clickable link under the image

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