Do you need to add a © (copyright) symbol on your content?
We’re often asked, ‘do I need to put the © symbol on my content to protect it?’. The answer is no but you may as well. In fact, you don’t have to ‘do’ anything to obtain copyright. The copyright notice (©+ name of copyright owner + year) is an internationally recognised signifier that a work is protected by copyright that you can put on your work, but not necessary for copyright protection.
What it does is communicate to people that you recognise the importance of this work from an intellectual property perspective and that you will be willing to take steps to prevent breach of that copyright if someone were to copy it and pass it off as their own.
But what happens when you want to use content you find online?
If you want to use content that wasn’t created by you:
- Check terms and conditions for guidelines on how images and content may be used. Terms and conditions often appear at the foot of a webpage. Look out for wording along the following lines:‘The content displayed on our website is protected by copyright under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act). You agree not to copy, distribute or modify content from the Site without our express written consent.”“We authorise printing of content for personal use only and, all other use, copying or reproduction of this website or any part of it is prohibited (except to the extent permitted by law).” If the guidelines are there, follow them. And if you’re unsure how to follow them, chat with us.
- If you can’t see any guidelines, seek consent from the creator of the content even if the proposed use of the content is non-commercial.
Does changing content by ‘10%’ mean you don’t need permission?
Making changes to the content doesn’t absolve the need to obtain consent. A qualitative, not quantitative, test will be applied.
When do you not need to gain consent?
There are some exceptions around the requirement of consent under the banner of ‘fair dealings’: https://www.nla.gov.au/key-exceptions-in-the-copyright-act
While the definition of ‘fair dealings’ is unclear and subject to interpretation on a case by case basis, there are general exceptions that cover content used for the purpose of:
- research or study
- criticism or review
- parody or satire
- news reporting
- providing legal advice.
Give credit for content, even if you have permission
You have a legal obligation to credit the author when you use their work, unless the author has agreed not to be credited, or it is not ‘reasonable’ to credit them. Using a work for the purposes of criticism, review or reporting news is conditional on crediting the author and title of the work. In other cases, you might need permission even though you credit them.
Consider using a copyright agency as an option
A copyright agency may be able to assist you with your online content needs. In fact, agencies obtain ‘blanket’ licences for internal use in organisations and institutions. Furthermore, they can also offer a pay-per-use licence for text and images.
If in doubt, chat with us!
