There is no copyright issue if students draw on their own imagination to depict characters in a book.
There is no copyright issue if students draw on their own imagination to depict characters in a book.
Yes. If the book is out of print, you can make as many copies of it as you need for educational purposes.
You should check every so often whether or not the book has come into print - if so, you would be expected to buy them or stick to the photocopying limits under the harcopy scheme in the Copyright Act.
Generally, if something is available on a website, you should first look at whether or not the website owner has given a permission or licence that will be wide enough to cover using their material for educational purposes (assuming the website owner either owns copyright in the material or is able to pass on such licences).
Whether or not there is such a statement, the teacher can rely on Part VB of the Copyright Act to copy images from a website into a PowerPoint (for example, for a class they are teaching). You don’t have to check for commercial availability of the images if you are getting them from a website.
A teacher will also be able to copy text as allowed under the provisions in Part VB (for example, an article from an online periodical or a “reasonable portion” - usually 10% of the number of words or 1 chapter, whichever is greater).
If you’re uncertain about how to apply these provisions to the text the teacher wants to copy, you could get advice from your own advisers or email the website to see if you can get a specific permission.
Yes. The provisions in the Copyright Act administered by CAL cover anything done either by or on behalf of the relevant educational institution. Visiting trainers and external lecturers wanting to copy or communicate text or images for the lectures or classes they are running for an organisation covered by an agreement with CAL may therefore rely on the Part VB provisions in the Act to the same extent as staff of the institution.
Section 200 of the Act allows copying of copyright material such as text, images and notated music for an “examination”. The section, however, doesn’t include any definition of what constitutes an “examination”. In our view, the section is likely to cover any type of test designed to assess the progress of a student, including weekly assessments and take-home exams, but should not be relied upon when setting homework or when testing for aptitude rather than for achievement in a particular course.
You will almost invariably be able to include screenshots from websites in course materials.
In some cases, the website copyright notice might be stated broadly enough to permit you to use screenshots (for example, where the website states that material on the site may be used for educational purposes).
In other cases, you are likely to be able to rely on the Part VB provisions.