Did you know that…?
- You can watch a clip on YouTube, but you can’t include it in a presentation to colleagues at work, or for a conference.
- In Australian schools, a teacher can write a poem on a blackboard for free, but to write the same poem on an interactive whiteboard incurs a fee.
- You can legally copy music from a CD to your tablet – but you can’t copy a film from a DVD to your tablet legally.
These are just some of the quirks highlighted on the #Copywrong website. #Copywrong is a microsite set up by the Australian Digital Alliance to show the growing number of issues with existing copyright exceptions faced by schools, libraries, universities, IT companies, artists and consumers around Australia.
Australia’s copyright laws are not keeping up with the digital world, and the Australian Digital Alliance is advocating for more balanced copyright laws which it says are “fundamental to the broad dissemination of knowledge, culture and education and to encourage innovation”.
Copyright is always a difficult issue to understand, especially for people engaged in education. CSU staff and students can get information about Copyright, including CSU Specific Guides, from the Copyright website.