For teaching

Copyright affects how teaching materials can be created, adapted, shared or published. This page introduces the key copyright guidelines for staff working with course content or developing teaching resources.

Key points for using third-party content in teaching resources

Apply the following principles to the use of third party copyright content at Charles Sturt.

  • Link to copyright content where possible rather than copying. Using inline or embedded links is fine where allowed by the source.
  • Always include attributions indicating the author, source, and licence.
  • Restrict content to enrolled students only and remove it when use is complete.
  • Limit copying to essential content only.
  • Only use approved systems for making teaching content available.
  • Be mindful of content licences and AI platform terms of use.
  • Make use of open education resources and content available under Creative Commons or other open licences as much as possible.
  • Use only legitimate material. Do not use material restricted behind a paywall or commercial licence if not authorised. Do not use material that might be online without the copyright owners permission.

Copying and sharing copyright material

The statutory licence for education

The Statutory Licence for Education, administered by the Copyright Agency and Screenrights, allows staff to copy and share readings, graphics and broadcasts for teaching. There are limits on the amount of material that can be copied and conditions on storage and access. e.g. Readings must only be stored in Leganto and images should be stored in the DOMS copyright reporting collection.

Legal exceptions

Exceptions in the Copyright Act permit:

  • Works to be shown and performed in class e.g. video or music, provided the audience is restricted to students and support staff.
  • Copying and sharing material to include in exam and test questions
  • Reproducing material in an accessible format for individuals living with permanent or temporary disabilities.

For statutory licencing and legal exceptions, refer to the Copyright Support site in Brightspace for details on limits, conditions and storage by resource type.

Library subscriptions

Access to articles, ebooks and audio-visual materials through the library databases is negotiated through commercial subscription agreements with publishers. Sharing links from Primo with students through Leganto will ensure students have access though their university login. Sharing downloaded files is generally not permitted.

Some publishers allow embedding (framing) of images in the LMS. Refer to the Brightspace Copyright support site for how to check the licence terms in Primo.

Using Generative AI (GAI)

Uploading third party material into GAI tools may infringe copyright or licence conditions, especially if the GAI platform uses the material for training. Using a university licensed tool such as CoPilot is less risky than free tools.

See Generative AI at University: Copyright for terms of use of some frequently used platforms and other copyright considerations.

Publishing teaching materials

Copyright of teaching materials created by staff is owned by the University. As a result, publishing teaching materials outside the university network requires prior authorisation under the Charles Sturt Intellectual Property Policy.

The library supports staff to publish teaching materials as Open Education Resources (OER). OER are published with © Charles Sturt University and shared under a Creative Commons (CC) licence to allow and encourage reuse. The University Librarian has the delegated authority to approve the application of CC licences to teaching materials (Standing Authorisations Register A42).

Contact us

If you can't find what you're looking for or need more information, reach out to our Copyright and Open Content Librarian.

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