What Can I copy without the copyright owner's permission?

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Material not protected by copyright

You do not need to obtain any permission where:

Material that is in copyright

Australian copyright law allows you to copy in-copyright material in certain circumstances. The provisions of the Copyright Act that set out these circumstances are known as exceptions. If an exception applies, you do not need to ask the copyright owner for permission to undertake acts within its scope.

For example, the fair dealing exceptions can apply where you copy material for the purpose of research, study, criticism, review, parody, satire, reporting the news, or giving legal advice. The Copyright Act expressly states that certain acts constitute fair dealings, such as copying up to 10% or one chapter of a book, or copying one article, for research or study. However, in other cases, you will need to consider the elements of fair dealing as set out in the Copyright Act.

There are also exceptions, which allow some copying by cultural and educational institutions and on behalf of people with print or intellectual disabilities. These are particularly relevant where you ask the library to reproduce collection material and supply a copy to you.

Restrictions for other reasons

In addition, special restrictions not related to copyright often apply to the copying of rare or unique works in the Library's collections. These may be due to preservation concerns, conditions of acquisition, or because of the operation of other laws (such as defamation and privacy). Please see, Do I need the Library's permission as well as the copyright owner's permission? for further information on this subject.

For more details on this subject please see the downloadable information sheet, Copying without the copyright owner's permission: key exceptions in the Copyright Act.