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Copyright and teaching

Understand copyright guidelines for teachers so you can use, share and reproduce learning materials in compliance with copyright law and University policy.

It's important to understand how to legally use copyright‑protected material when you're creating and delivering course content. Complying with copyright, licensing and acknowledgement requirements is essential if you want to maintain academic integrity.
Download our guide to copyright and delivering content (PDF 170 KB) for more info.

How to use third-party content

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Limit
Limit content use to enrolled students only and remove the material when it's no longer needed. Use only legitimate sources and approved University learning systems (like Moodle).
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Acknowledge
Acknowledge the author or source for all third‑party content (images, videos, cartoons, diagrams and text) with clear attributions that include the licence type or permission.
How to write an attribution
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Link
Link to or embed copyright content where possible, rather than copying or uploading. Set up a readings list so your students have access to resources through stable links.
How to make a readings list

Copyright rules for different content

Open-licence education resources are handy because your students will be able to access them for free and you can adapt them if necessary. See our Open Educational Resources guide for more info.

Disability exceptions

The Copyright Act contains disability exceptions to ensure all students can access learning resources. This means teachers and other staff at Federation are allowed to make copies of material that needs adjusting. For example, scanning a book and changing the font size, adding captions to illustrations or converting academic language into basic English. If you need help adapting content for your course, please contact Accessibility Services.

Contact us

If you have any questions about copyright, please email copyright@federation.edu.au or call (03) 5327 9876.