Protecting your work
In Australia, copyright material is subject to copyright as soon as it is created. While the author or creator does not have to do anything to gain copyright, it is advisable to make copyright ownership and any reuse conditions clear to others.
Below is a list of ways that will assist in clarifying copyright ownership and clarifying the reuse limitations around the material.
Include a copyright statement on works
A copyright statement is usually the copyright symbol - a lower case c in a circle, the name of the copyright owner (who may or may not be the author) and the year the work was created, e.g. © J. Smith 2010 or © University of Melbourne 2022.
A copyright statement alerts people to the fact that the work is subject to copyright and therefore, there may be restrictions in how to reuse the material.
The University owns Intellectual Property (IP) created by staff in the course of, or incidental to, employment with the University, except copyright in Scholarly Works. For further details see the University’s Intellectual Property policy.
Provide a full bibliographic citation
A full bibliographic citation will provide people with citation information and show them how to cite the work. Citing work isn’t just for published, peer reviewed research, it can be applicable to websites, blogs, images, and many other types of outputs. Check the University of Melbourne citation style guide to find a suitable style.
Include works in the UOM repository
Submit a version of research with author details to the UOM repository, this will create a formal record, that will verify copyright ownership of the research work. Include metadata associated with the work and assign a Creative Commons licence to the work so people know how to reuse the work. Many repositories also generate a full bibliographic citation (as discussed above) based on the provided information.
Such repositories include:
- Melbourne.Figshare
- OpenScienceFramework
- ArXiv
- Humanities Commons.
Include instructions for people who wish to contact the copyright owner for permission to include or reuse excerpts of a work
By providing an email address or contact details people will be more inclined to contact the copyright owner to ask for permission.
Consider further impact and outreach potential for copyright
Copyright works have the potential to be translated, in ways that will have further impacts in societies, cultures, the environment, policy and other areas. Consider alternate pathways for works, the potential benefits that can come about due to the research, within the work. The impact of works within different sectors. Thinking in this way will help with the conceptualisation of how a work might be translated. If extra support is needed on exploring the commercial concepts around a work contact Research, Innovation and Commercialisation, (RIC). RIC can provide advise on potential business uses for IP and can also advise on commercialisation of IP.
Copyright infringement
Action can be taken against an individual or an organisation if they are responsible for infringing copyright. Clarify that the use of work is actually an infringement, before taking action as there are provisions in the Copyright Act that allow people to use copyright material without needing permission.
If the University of Melbourne is the copyright owner of the allegedly infringed work, seek assistance through the Copyright Office.
If you are the copyright owner issue a takedown notice or contact independent legal advice.
If copyright has been transferred to a publisher, then any infringement should be pursued by the publisher.