Subject guides: Copyright and Monash Professional Development Education Courses: Permissions

Seeking Permission

Monash University does not run a permissions service for staff. However, advice on permissions can be obtained from the copyright adviser .

Most scholarly publishers have outsourced their permissions to Rightslink or Copyright Clearance Centre, an online automated permissions system. You will have to create an account and follow the prompts. NOTE: You may have to pay a fee for using this material.

ALWAYS keep a record of any attempts to contact the copyright owner and any permissions gained.

Permission Template and Licence

Does the resource already have a licence or terms of use that allow copying for a short course?

Many resources may already have licences such as creative commons that will allow use in short courses. Check the terms of use of online material.

Remember, just because it is freely available online, it doesn't mean it is free to use. However, linking to resources does not involve copyright issues at all, as long as the online material is legitimate ie placed online with permission of the copyright owner.

Licence Term	What does it mean?
Personal use	Cannot copy for short course. Link only or ask for permission
Non-commercial	Cannot copy for short course, unless not charging. Link only or ask for permission
Private/individual use	Cannot copy for short course. Link only or ask for permission
Use in organisation	Cannot copy for short course unless it is internal only. Link only or ask for permission
© name and/or year and no terms of use	Cannot copy for short course. Link only or ask for permission
No © info but terms of use	Depends on what the terms of use say. Can only do those actions permitted by the terms of use.
Educational use	Can copy as long as can classify short course as educational
Free for education	Can copy as long as can classify short course as educational
Free copying	Can copy, no restrictions
All rights reserved	Cannot copy for short course. Link only or ask for permission
Some rights reserved	Depends on what the terms of use say. Can only do those actions permitted by the terms of use. If it does not state what rights are reserved explicitly, will have to ask copyright owner

If you are unsure of the copyright status of any online resources, please contact the copyright adviser .

For information on open access resources appropriate for your short course, see the Open-access resources page.

Permission Tips

There is no register or list of records of Copyright owners
An employer usually owns copyright in work made by employees as part of their duties
Publishers are often the copyright owners or the publisher may know how to contact the copyright owner.
Production companies will often be copyright owners of film and TV programs.
Galleries or museums may give permission for artistic works in their collections or contact the copyright owner.
For websites look on the site's contact page or the webmaster. They may have contact details for owners.
If there is no copyright information on a website this could indicate the material is online without permission
Collecting societies and professional organisations may have information about copyright owners:
- Photographs from AIPP
- Musical works and sound recordings from APRA/AMCOS
- Print material and visual art works from Copyright Agency
- Authors from the Australian Society of Authors or the Australian Writers Guild
- Journalists from the Media, entertainment and arts alliance (MEAA)
- Broadcast material from Screenrights
- Publishers from the Australian Publishers Association
- For UK and US artists the Watch File is a useful search engine