Copyright

Style Guide for copyright material

•	Copyright protects written material, computer programs, charts and tables, compilations, dramatic works, musical works, artistic or graphic works, moving images and sound recordings. It extends to material in electronic form (e.g. on CD or on the Internet).  
•	It does not protect facts, titles and ideas.

Copyright symbol
•	Registration of copyright is not required in Australia.  
•	Copyright protection is automatic.  
•	The © symbol is not required by law.

Copying another’s work
•	Copying any substantial or significant portion of any work without permission of the author may be a copyright infringement. The copyright owner determines what is considered to be a substantial or significant amount.
•	Material may be protected even if it does not have a © symbol attached.
•	Do not assume that it is permissible to copy something if an acknowledgment is provided. Acknowledging copying is not enough. In most situations, permission from the copyright holder will be required. In most cases in the non-government and government sectors, this can be easily obtained as authors usually promote sharing of tools. However, this may not be the case if materials have been prepared by privately owned businesses as they may want to protect their copyright or sell the use of the materials for a fee.
•	Do not assume that it is acceptable if the work has been altered. Altering the work may leave a substantial part of the original expression in place and could still constitute plagiarism (passing off another person’s ideas or expression as your own) or copyright infringement.
•	Do not assume that it is acceptable if the work is from the Internet. Most material on the Internet is protected by copyright.

There are substantial penalties for contravening the Copyright Act (1968).

Material created by employees
The Copyright Act (1968) makes it clear that employers own and control the copyright over material that employees create as part of their duties.