Intellectual Property and Copyright

Sharing copyright material

In most circumstances, schools are required to share the original copyright materials they create with other schools and the broader public.

Schools may wish to share original material that they have created on a school website or directly with other schools or organisations. This is done by applying a licence to the material that indicates what others can and can’t do with it.

The recommended licence to apply to original copyright material is the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY). This licence:

• is suitable for most original material school staff create and wish to share or release to the public
• allows users to copy, share and edit the copyright material in any medium or format without seeking permission, provided that attribution is made to the school and the Department
• does not allow re-use of logos, trademarks and branding, or material created by third parties

CC BY is the default licence for the Department and schools’ publications and websites. Only in limited circumstances should another licence be applied. The schools’ version of this licence is shown in Figure 1 and is available for school use at Creative Commons licence for schools. To view the licence used for corporate material, refer to: Creative Commons licence for corporate

To learn more about Creative Commons licences, refer to the Creative Commons information pack for teachers and students

Things to consider before releasing material to the public

Before releasing any material, schools need to consider:

• Does it include third party material? If so, can the third party material be released under the Department’s Creative Commons licence for schools (available on the Resources tab)? Has the third party material been correctly attributed?
• Does it include student work? If so, permission to release the material under the Creative Commons licence needs to be obtained from the student or parent/carer. Student work should be appropriately attributed, noting that for privacy and safety reasons, students must be attributed by first name only or by a pseudonym if this is requested by the student or parent/carer.
• Is there any reason the material may not be suitable for public release, for example does it contain personal information or photographs of students or others?

For help deciding whether material can be released to the public, contact the Copyright Team.

Scenario — sharing resources

A teacher has been asked to upload material they have presented at a conference onto a public website. To do so the teacher must check the following:

• Does any of the material belong to third parties? If so, can that material be released under the Department’s recommended Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence? Is the third party material attributed?
• Does any of the material belong to students? Have permissions been obtained from students/parents or carers? Is the material appropriately attributed?

If all of the above has been checked then the teacher can release the material under the recommended Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY).