Personal use

Overview

There are limited provisions in the Copyright Act for copying and format shifting, physically owned or digitally owned copies of material for personal use. These provisions include space shifting of recorded music, the time shifting of television and radio programs and the format shifting of other types of material such as books, magazines or photographs.

Personal use is not the same as fair dealing for research and study. The differences are outlined below.

Personal use limitations

  • Ownership of a physical or digital copy of the material being reproduced. (Please note this does not include streamed material, where a licence fee is paid for accessing material. Streaming services do not give users ownership of material on their sites. Material on these sites is leased or rented.)
  • Private use.
  • Includes the full copying of works.
  • Lending or sharing of copies is not allowable.

Fair dealing for research and study limitations

  • Ownership of primary material is not necessary. Primary material can be held in, or borrowed from, a library, for example.
  • Copying, must be for research or study.
  • Copying amounts are limited, 10% or 1 chapter whichever is greater. (More can be copied if it is 'fair and reasonable'.)
  • Copying can be in the same format as the original (e.g. a photocopy of a book).
  • The copying of artistic works, sound recordings and films is only allowable if it is "fair and reasonable".

Space shifting of music recordings

Transferring material from a hard copy into a digital copy is format shifting. The Copyright Act allows authorised (non-pirated) music recordings to be space shifted for personal use.

The following limits apply to space shifting:

  • Personal use only. (Consult the music licence page if space shifting for educational purposes.)
  • Ownership of the primary non-pirated material.
  • Ownership of the device that the work is being copied onto.
  • Keeping the primary copy. Destroying the reproduction if the primary copy is sold, traded or given away.
  • Cannot make the reproduction available on the internet.
  • Cannot publicly play, perform or broadcast the reproduction.
  • Cannot sell, hire, trade or give away the reproduction.
  • Cannot circumvent TPMs (technological protection measures) to make reproductions.

Time shifting television and radio programs

Time shifting means recording a television or radio program for latter viewing or listening. The Copyright Act allows television and radio programs to be time shifted for personal use.

The following limits apply to time shifting:

  • Personal use only. (Consult the statutory licence page if recording for educational purposes. Consult the fair dealing page if recording for research or study purposes.)
  • Recordings can be in any format.
  • The recording is temporary, for viewing or listening at a more convenient time. The recording is not to be kept.
  • Recordings cannot be sold, hired out, traded or given away, but can be lent to a family member.
  • The showing of recordings in public, such as in a classroom setting is not allowed, nor is the broadcasting of the recording or the streaming or uploading of the recording onto the internet. (Consult the using copyright material in lectures page for information on showing TV or radio programs in class.)

Format shifting

Format shifting is similar to space shifting but the copy is rendered into a different format; for example, a video recording is transferred to a DVD or an audio cassette recording is transferred to a CD. Only owned material can be format shifted for personal use, (this does not include streamed material, where a licence fee is paid for accessing material. Material on streaming sites is leased or rented, not owned.) Format shifting is not applicable to some material types, e.g. computer games.

The following limits apply to format shifting:

  • Personal use only. (Consult the statutory licence page if recording for educational purposes. There may also be ways to format shift material, for educational purposes, under the 'Certain Special Purposes' provision. Please contact the Copyright Office for more information)
  • The primary copy must be an authorised copy.
  • Disposing of the primary copy is not allowed. The primary copy must be kept. The reproduction must be destroyed if the primary copy is sold, traded or given away.
  • The copying of sound recordings downloaded from the internet is not allowed, unless the Terms & Conditions on the site state that this is allowable.
  • The copying of additional reproductions is not allowed. However, temporary incidental copies are allowable, if they are part of the technical process of copying the primary material. The incidental copies must be destroyed after the reproduction has been made.
  • The uploading of reproductions onto the internet is not allowed.
  • The public playing, performing or broadcasting of reproductions is not allowed.
  • Selling, the hiring out of, trading or gifting of reproductions is not allowed.
  • Circumventing of TPMs (technological protection measures) is not allowed.

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