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Copyright and the Web (screen 13 of 17)
Web material is protected by copyright law
Material published on the Web is protected by copyright law. Even though the Web makes it particularly easy for others to take your text or graphics and use them as their own, your graphics are still protected by copyright law. Australia is also signatory to various international copyright conventions so your work is also covered in countries other than Australia that are also signatories.
However, it does seem to be the case on the Web that unless you explicitly declare you own copyright in your text, words and other Web-published material, users will assume those works are in the public domain.
Material on the Web is NOT in the public domain unless the website specifically says that it is. For your own protection and that of your organisation, do not use material from other websites without written permission from their Web manager.
You should obtain copyright clearance for any material not generated by your organisation if you want to put in on your website.
Make sure that any graphics, music or text are clear of any copyright agreements, or that you have written permission to use them.
Remember that your site has the potential to be seen by millions.
The fact that there are millions viewing your site in almost all countries makes it almost impossible for you to check on who is pirating your copyrighted material. But it is easy for them to check on you.
Limitations on use
Some websites will allow you to use material if you are not using it for a commercial purpose. Other sites allow you to watch and enjoy their material but not copy or transfer it to others or to reuse it.
Put limitations on use in your copyright declaration
As for your own graphics on your site, make it clear what the situation is. Put users of your website on notice in your copyright declaration as to what they can and can't do with material on your site.
If you have material which must be protected, particularly if you want to exhibit material which belongs to someone else, explore the issues before putting it up on your website.
If your organisation is a gallery, for example, and you want to display some of the exhibits, you probably need to take the following steps:
- Establish who owns the copyright.
- Obtain the copyright owner's permission in writing to use images of their work on your website.
- Create a low-resolution image of the graphic for the website (low-resolution images don't reproduce as well).
- Investigate the use of
digital watermarking(1). - Develop a copyright declaration for the images and link to it from the work and/or include it in the 'alt' text.
Sample copyright declaration from the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation(2) website
Materials, including pages and on-line images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia. All rights are reserved.
When you access the ABC you agree that:
- You may retrieve the ABC's materials for information only.
- You may save a local copy or send it to your printer for your own personal use or in order to inform authorised and potential users about the ABC materials.
- However, you may not make any charge for such use and any commercial exploitation is expressly prohibited.
- You must include the copyright notice in any copy that you make.
- You may not modify the information found in ABC materials without the express permission of the ABC.
Digital signatures, digital watermarks
Digital signatures and digital watermarks are bits of information that can be registered and then hidden in a graphic (not a text file, though) to identify it as yours. This technology is still developing, and its reliability has not been proven.
Alternatively, Adobe Acrobat(3) allows you to put protected material on the Web in a way that lets users view it, but restricts access in certain ways. The user needs software called Acrobat Reader on their computer to view this information, which can contain text or graphics.
There are other ways(4) for material on a website to be protected, but they are not used as commonly as the two methods previously mentioned.
A version of these Internet Development Guides that you can download(5) is in Adobe Acrobat format.
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References
- Digital Watermarking http://www.webreference.com/content/watermarks/
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation http://www.abc.net.au/common/copyrigh.htm
- Adobe Acrobat http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/main.html
- Imprimatur http://www.imprimatur.co.uk/
- Download Guides http://culture.gov.au/resources/guides/download.htm
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