Copyright and plagiarism are serious matters, so to avoid any problems you should get to know your responsibilities and rights.
Copyright
What is copyright?
Copyright gives you as an author or creator legal protection over your work, including the right to grant or deny permission to others to reproduce it. Of course, this works the other way round as well. You must always respect the copyright of anyone else’s work, and you may not reproduce it unless you have their permission.
To clarify, an idea cannot be covered by copyright, however the way the idea is expressed as a ‘work’ is covered by copyright. A ‘work’ can range from a novel to a painting, a photograph or computer software and much more.
Want to know more? Try these websites.
- Smartcopying - the official guide to copyright issues for Australian schools and TAFE NSW
- The Australian Copyright Council - provides information sheets about copyright in Australia
- Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) is an Australian copyright management company that administers the copying of print material by educational institutions and other bodies.
Here are some additional links for TAFE staff
- Copyright - what you can copy - This document explains the statutory hard copy educational licence for TAFE Illawarra.
- NSW DEC Copyright Unit
- Screenrights manage the licences for film, TV and radio and provides payment to copyright owners for the use of their work. The Screenrights statutory broadcast licence permits NSW TAFE to copy and communicate TV and radio broadcasts in analog and digital formats. EnhanceTV is a free website that provides a weekly email service for teachers, with information on educational TV programs and films, and free study guides. Please contact your librarian for more information.
- The Copyright Kitchen is a useful resource if you work in vocational education and training (VET) and deal with copyright issues in your day-to-day work.
Plagiarism
What is plagiarism?
If you were to use another person’s ideas, writing or work and do not acknowledge the original source, you are committing plagiarism. Plagiarism is when you pretend that someone else’s work is your own. This is not only dishonest but unethical.
As a student, you are expected to acknowledge the work of others. Usually you will be required to use in-text citations and provide a list of sources used in all written assessment tasks. You should contact your teacher for specific requirements. A general guide to in-text citations and bibliographies is available on the Referencing and Bibliographies page.
The HSC Board of Studies has produced an excellent online training program - HSC: All My Own Work covering scholarship principles and practices, acknowledging sources, plagiarism, copyright and working with others.