[LINK] Copyright questions

Jan Whitaker jwhit at melbpc.org.au
Thu Mar 24 17:03:44 AEDT 2011


At 04:38 PM 24/03/2011, Karl Auer wrote:

> > If that document is now no longer available on the web and I put a copy
> > of it (unchanged) on my website and make reference to it, am I doing
> > anything wrong - legally or otherwise?
>
>Well, you may not be able to find a copy of the latest blockbuster novel
>on the web either , but that doesn't mean it's legal to put it on your
>website, no matter how scrupulous you are about attribution. Ditto for
>some book that's out of print.

I'm with Karl on this. If you keep a copy for personal use (not 
publicly accessible) for research or study, and not the whole thing, 
you can do it under fair dealing provisions. But just because it's no 
longer accessible doesn't mean you can do what you want with it. If 
this is for an organisation, I wouldn't do it. Universities pay 
licence fees to cover various usage, so they are somewhat covered for 
these situations under the part of the Act for Educational Institutions.

When in doubt, ask. We had need of a document no longer available for 
a class in the form it was originally presented, so I wrote to the 
office who owned it and received permission to use with the class, no problem.

Your point about giving credit is important, too. That's considered 
moral rights and can't be transferred to another party.

Jan



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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