Copyright Scenarios - Test Your Understanding

Now that you have spent time learning about what Copyright is, how it relates to the work of teachers and gained an understanding of the various educational licences and exceptions, have a go at completing these common Copyright classroom and education-based scenarios.  Read each scenario. Pause, consider and reflect before flipping the card to reveal the answer.   

5 cards   |   Total Attempts: 182
  

Cards In This Set

Front Back
An English teacher has a copy of the film The Detective on DVD to accompany the study of a related novel. He would like the whole Year 10 English cohort to be able to access the film on the school’s ClickView video system. The teacher wants to convert the DVD to a digital file format and upload it to ClickView. The film is commercially available and it has not been broadcast on free-to-air TV.
Discuss the Copyright issues involved under Australian Copyright law and whether the teacher is allowed to undertake the activities he or she wants to do.
The teacher is not permitted to copy the DVD and upload it to ClickView despite it being for educational purposes because it falls outside the provisions of s. 200AB relating to flexible dealing and any educational licence.The DVD is commercially produced and available and it is likely to have an ATPM (access control technological protection measure) preventing. Circumventing, or breaking, a technological protection measure on a DVD is illegal.
The Biology teacher has a much-loved VHS copy of a program that she wishes to convert to DVD format because the resource is degrading in quality. Discuss whether or not the teacher and/or school is allowed to format shift resources with reference to Australian Copyright law.
Teachers and/or schools are allowed to format shift (copying content from one technological format to another) in limited circumstances under s. 200AB relating to flexible dealing. These requirements include that:
  • the original VHS copy is not pirated
  • the resource is for educational instruction
  • the program is unavailable in a new format within a limited time frame
  • an access control measure (ATPM) has not been disabled
  • the format shifted copy does not prejudice the original Copyright owner - such as uploading the new version to YouTube or giving students an electronic file they could copy.
NB: You cannot update a resource "just in case" it's needed in future.
A Science teacher finds a YouTube video on the theory of evolution that he wants to use as a resource for his Year 10 class. The teacher downloads the video and then uploads it to his school's Learning Management System (LMS) for his students to access. Discuss whether or not the teacher is allowed to use the YouTube video in this manner under Australian Copyright law.
This is a difficult situation because YouTube's terms and conditions do not allow the downloading of YouTube videos. Under Australian Copyright law, the Flexible Dealing exception (s. 200AB) may allow the teacher to potentially copy the YouTube video under certain circumstances for the purposes of teaching. The teacher also needs to limit the use of the video to students and remove the video from the LMS once the task/activity is completed. The teacher is advised to directly stream the video via a link or embed the program into the LMS because linking and embedding are not Copyright activities.
The Geography teacher wants to use parts of a book for use with her class and place it on the school's LMS for students to access. She doesn't want to purchase her own copy but wants to know from the teacher librarian how much she can copy. Based on Australian Copyright law, what advice would the teacher librarian provide and justify your answer with reference to the relevant provisions.
Under the Statutory Text and Artistic Licence in Part VB of the Copyright Act, the Geography teacher can copy and upload a "reasonable portion" of a book to the LMS for educational purposes. A reasonable portion means 10% of the whole book or one chapter. The whole work can be copied if it is out of Copyright and is not available for purchase within 6 months. .
The History Faculty wishes to make a backup DVD copy of a DVD just in case the original is lost or becomes unplayable. Discuss whether or not the school is allowed to copy this resource with reference to relevant Copyright provisions.
Under s. 200AB of the Copyright Act schools cannot make a backup copy under Flexible Dealing provisions just in case the original resource is unplayable or lost. Backup copies can only be made for educational instruction purposes.