faqs
Australian educational services
Screenrights is happy to advise on its operations and the services it offers. If your query is not addressed here, please email licensing@screenrights.org. If your query concerns general matters of copyright law, we are not able to offer legal advice. In many cases, advice on general copyright matters can be obtained from the Australian Copyright Council.
The frequently asked questions (FAQs) are divided into the following areas:
- A practical guide to copying
- General copyright information
- Getting the most out of television
- Screenrights and the Australian Copyright Act
- Getting a licence
- Monitoring your copying
- Payment of the Screenrights Licence and where the funds go
A Practical Guide to Copying
What can I copy under my Screenrights licence?
The rules for copying under a Screenrights licence are very simple. You can copy anything from radio or television (free to air and pay) and you can make as many copies as you like. You can also copy broadcast material made available online by broadcasters. This includes podcasts and vodcasts of your favourite programs. You can copy all or part of a program. You can also make up compilation tapes of material you have copied. The only requirements are that you have a Screenrights licence, that the copy is made for the educational purposes of the institution, and that it is labeled.
Can I copy from cable or satellite television?
You can copy from both cable and satellite television, whether pay or free to air.
Can I copy from radio?
The provisions also allow you to copy from radio.
For what purpose can I make copies from television or radio?
The provisions allow you to copy for the educational purposes of the institution. This would include copying programs to keep in the library, or to show to students as part of a course of instruction.
Can I lend or borrow copies to or from another institution?
A copy may be loaned to a student or member of staff of the institution only. Copies may not be loaned to anyone else nor to another institution, even if they have an agreement with Screenrights. Where another institution requests a copy, you may make a copy on its behalf, provided the institution has an agreement with Screenrights and provided the copy is labeled in the appropriate manner, clearly indicating the name of the institution for whom the copy was made.
What can I do if I forget to tape a program?
You may be able to purchase a copy from EnhanceTV. Simply visit the website to see whether the program is available for purchase. All copies are made without advertisements and will be delivered to you within 7 days.
Can students borrow copies?
Yes, copies may be lent to a student or member of staff only.
Can an educational institution sell copies they make?
Copies made under the service may not be sold or supplied to anyone for a profit.
Can I make copies at home?
Yes. Teachers can copy at home on behalf of an educational institution covered by an agreement with Screenrights, provided the copy is made for the teaching purposes of the institution and marked in the appropriate manner.
Can anyone make a copy for my educational purpose?
Yes. Anyone can copy of behalf of an institution covered by an agreement with Screenrights, provided the copy is made for the teaching purposes of the institution and labeled in the correct manner.
Can I make digital copies under my Screenrights licence?
Yes you can. This includes copying onto CD, DVD or onto a PC.
Can I copy podcasts or vodcasts from the Internet?
Yes, you can. You are allowed to copy broadcast material made available online by the broadcaster.
Can I copy videos or CDs that I bought or rented?
Your Screenrights licence only allows you to copy material from television or radio. Copying bought or hired videos or CDs without permission from rightsholders may infringe copyright. The Australian Copyright Council may be able to advise you as to your legal obligations.
What should we do if we want to make a 'back-up' of a bought or hired video or to change its format?
This is not covered by the educational copying service and you will need to seek legal advice as to your copyright obligations. The Australian Copyright Council may be able to advise as to whether permission needs to be obtained. Screenrights may be able to assist with identifying and locating the relevant rights owner, in which case please contact us.
What about a commercially obtained copy of a program shown on television?
Screenrights educational copying service applies to copying from radio and television and the making of further copies from those original copies only. It does not apply to copying purchased or hired videos, even where the material has been broadcast. You may wish to obtain advice from the Australian Copyright Council.
Do copies need to be labeled or marked?
Under the Copyright Act, all copies must be labeled with the name of the institution, the fact that the copy was made under Part VA of the Copyright Act, the date on which the material was broadcast and the date on which the copy was made (if this is different). For example:
Copies that are communicated also need a warning notice as prescribed in the Copyright Regulations. This notice should state the following:
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
Copyright Regulations 1969WARNING
This material has been copied and communicated to you by or on behalf of [insert name of institution] pursuant to Part VA of the Copyright Act 1968 ("the Act"). The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright or performers protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice.
Can we remove the labeling on a tape if we record over it, or do we need to keep a record of everything that has been copied onto that tape?
Yes, the old label can be removed and replaced with a label containing details of the new program that has been taped. There is no need for the label to contain details of everything that has been copied onto the tape.
What online uses can I make of copied programs?
Schools, TAFEs and universities can also "communicate" copied programs to staff and students. This covers emailing copies and making them available online through an internal network, for example.
Can I show copies of programs I have made in class?
Section 28 of the Copyright Act allows a teacher to show a program in a class or lecture as part of the instruction without infringing copyright, provided that:
- the instruction is not for profit and;
- the audience is limited to people taking part in the instruction or otherwise directly connected with the educational institution.
If you are unsure as to whether the use you wish to make of the program falls within this exception, you should seek legal advice.
Can I include copied programs in emails of course materials that I send to students?
You can include copied programs in emails to students, provided the appropriate warning under the Copyright Regulations is on each communicated copy. This notice should state the following:
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
Copyright Regulations 1969WARNING
This material has been copied and communicated to you by or on behalf of [insert name of institution] pursuant to Part VA of the Copyright Act 1968 ("the Act"). The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright or performers protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice.
We make teaching material available to students online, can we include broadcast materials as part of this package of resources?
Yes, you can, provided access is limited to students and teachers at the institution and provided a warning is included on the communicated copies (see previous question).
We have a Clickview system, can we use it to store copied programs and share them with other institutions.
Yes, you can. Provided the other institution has a Screenrights licence, you can use Clickview Exchange to swap files of programs recorded under your Screenrights licence.
General Copyright Information
I'd like more information on copyright from a teacher's perspective.
The Australian Copyright Council publishes a very useful guide to copyright for teachers that explains what you can and can't do under Australia's Copyright laws. Simply contact the Australian Copyright Council.
We would like to show a film in public, is this covered under the Screenrights licence?
Showing a film (eg playing a video or DVD) outside your immediate family and private home is, in copyright terms, a performance in public. This requires the permission of the copyright owners. Examples of this sort of use include:
- film societies
- fundraising film nights
- on bus or coaches
- entertaining the kids at school or in a library on a rainy day.
In industry terms this is called a "non-theatric exhibition", and there are two companies from which can rent you a copy of a film with the permission to perform it in public included: Roadshow Film Distributors, Tel, 02 9552 8600; and Amalgamated Movies Tel, 07 4787 1086 (Eastern states) or 08 9727 1950 (SA, WA, NT). The two companies have different catalogues of films. So if one company doesn't have the movie you want, then the other may.
Getting the most out of television
Where can I access study material to supplement a program I use?
EnhanceTV has been developed by Screenrights to help teachers get the most out of their Screenrights licence. The site not only contains online program guides, it can also lead to you to a wealth of other teaching material, such as study guides, special features and useful web sites. There is also a community section where you can exchange teaching tips with other educators and find out more about using audiovisual material in class. Visit EnhanceTV now.
How do I know when a program that is relevant to my class is about to be broadcast?
By subscribing to EnhanceTV you can receive a free online program guide divided into subject areas. This guide also contains a list of relevant www sites for upcoming programs, leading you to a wealth of other teaching resources.
Can I get copies of programs previously broadcast if I forgot to tape them?
If you missed taping a program, you may be able to obtain a copy from EnhanceTV. Visit the site's online store and see what's available. Copies are supplied within 7 days of ordering. You can also ask EnhanceTV to make copies for you. All copies are ad free.
Screenrights and the Australian Copyright Act
What is Screenrights role?
Screenrights is a non-profit organisation appointed by the Australian Government to administer provisions in the Australian Copyright Act allowing educational institutions to copy from radio and television and to communicate those copies, provided they pay a fee.
Screenrights' role is to enter agreements with participating institutions, monitor their use of material and collect and distribute fees to the rightsholders in the programs that are identified as having been copied or communicated. This is done on a non-profit basis, with Screenrights deducting only its administrative overheads from the money it collects.
Because this appointment has been made by the Government, Screenrights must put its annual accounts before each House of Parliament and comply with other guidelines issued by the Attorney-General's Department.
Screenrights also provides other services to rightsholders in film and television and to the people who want to use their work. We have established a similar educational copying service in New Zealand and a service for rightsholders wanting to collect overseas royalties. We have also established a copying service for Australian government departments similar to the educational copying service, and we administer provisions in the Australian Copyright Act that ensure rightsholders are paid when free to air broadcasts of their work are retransmitted by services such as pay television.
Which "educational institutions" are included under the Australian Copyright Act?
Schools, universities and TAFE colleges, along with some other training organisations, are "educational institutions" for the purposes of the Copyright Act. This does not include public libraries.
Getting a Screenrights licence
How do I know if the institution I work at has a Screenrights licence?
All universities, TAFEs, government schools and almost all other schools are licensed by Screenrights to copy from radio and television. Vocational Education Training providers, ELICOS Colleges and other training institutions can also get a licence from Screenrights and make the most of television as a teaching resource. If you are not sure if your institution has a Screenrights licence, please contact us.
Screenrights also licenses educational institutions to communicate copies they make (for example, by making copies available online to students).
How much does a Screenrights licence cost?
This depends on how your copying and communication practices are monitored. Institutions that choose not to keep records of everything they copy, but elect to participate in a survey, pay an annual fee per student. As the administrative burden of sampling is considerably less than full record keeping, most institutions choose this option.
Institutions that keep records of every copy they make, pay a fee for each minute copied. This per minute fee will vary according to the type of program that is copied (programs that are likely to be kept as an ongoing resource cost more per minute than those that are more ephemeral in nature).
For further information about the cost of obtaining a Screenrights licence, please contact us.
How do I get a Screenrights licence?
If you do not have a licence and would like to apply for one, you can download the forms here, or please contact us.
Whats happens if we don't have a licence?
Institutions that do not have a Screenrights licence and copy from television or radio may infringe copyright, unless they obtain prior permission from all the relevant rightsholders in the program. The practical impossibility of doing this led to the educational copying provisions being established in the first place.
Monitoring Your Copying
Why do I have to fill in forms for copying?
One of Screenrights' roles is to monitor what is being copied. This is necessary for us to work out who should be paid. Under the Copyright Act, educational institutions can either keep full records of everything they copy and forward these records to us on a quarterly basis, or they can elect to participate in a sample. This means that they only need to keep records for a brief period if they are selected to be surveyed.
All relevant staff are given full training prior to the commencement of the survey period and the survey results are extrapolated by an independent authority to give an accurate picture of copying practices across a sector. Most institutions elect to participate in the sample as the administrative burden is considerably less than keeping records all the time.
Monitoring copying therefore involves a certain amount of filling in forms. Electing to participate in the sample process greatly reduces the number of forms that you have to complete.
Payment of the Screenrights licence and where the funds go
Why should educational institutions pay for copying?
Copyright law ensures that the people who create certain material (such as films, books, music and artwork) are paid for the use of their work. The value in a creative work is usually not in the actual product (such as the film) but in all the uses that can be made of this product. When a film is sold to television, rightsholders are paid for the television broadcast only. Further uses of the program such as making copies to keep in a library of resources or to show to students, are not built into this original fee.
In recognition of the fact that it was important to allow for educational use of television and radio while still ensuring that rightsholders are paid, the educational copying provisions were inserted into the Copyright Act in 1990 and Screenrights was established. The money paid for copying acts as an important incentive for people to continue making programs of value to the educational market.
Where does the money go?
The money that Screenrights collects from educational institutions is paid out to the rightsholders in the programs that are identified as having been copied, after the deduction of Screenrights' administrative overheads only.
How does Screenrights distribute the royalties it collects?
Screenrights determines the total amount collected in a financial year and then deducts its operating expenses for that year from this amount. Once these expenses have been deducted, an allocation of 0.25% of the total distributable amount is made to a fund known as the IBNR Fund. This fund is used to meet "claims incurred but not reported". A further deduction is then made to an Artistic Works fund (1.9% for Australian educational royalties) to pay rightsholders in artistic works.
After these deductions have been made, all copied programs are categorised as either ephemeral in nature (that is, programs that are not likely to be kept as an ongoing resource, such as news and magazine style current affairs programs) or as "other". This category affects the dollar value allocated to each minute copied with ephemeral programs receiving less than other programs. Screenrights can then determine the total amount that should be allocated to each title identified as having been copied.
The next task is to determine how much should be allocated to each copyright in a copied title. Because each film and television program contains a number of copyrights, the total amount allocated to a title must be divided among the copyright owners. This is done according to a scheme of allocation determined by the Screenrights Board. For Australian educational copying royalties, the allocation is as follows:
- to the copyright in the film: 68.5%
- to the copyright in the literary and dramatic work: 22.1%
- to the copyright in the sound recordings of musical works: 2.0%
- to the copyright in the musical works: 7.4%
The Australian educational service also allows for the communication of copied titles, provided an additional fee is paid. Programs that are identified as having been communicated are also allocated royalties. The allocation is split between each of the copyright owners in the program in the same manner as copying royalties.
Screenrights must identify the people who own or control each of these relevant copyrights from its extensive database and from various other sources, allowing it to distribute the royalties it has collected to these rightsholders.
Filming EnhanceTV on TTN, Network Ten
Footy Chicks appealed to educators as the program delved into topical, highly publicized mainstream themes. The accompanying study guide provided a resource that made it easier to adapt into a classroom environment.
- Rebecca Barry Company Director Red Ithaka Productions
