Copyright Law and Licensing

An overview of the New Zealand copyright law and licenses including Creative Commons.

Copyright Law

Original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, sound recordings, films, communication works and the typographical arrangement of published editions are protected under the Copyright Act 1994.

Copyright applies automatically. There is no need to register. Copyright gives the creator the exclusive right to do certain acts. There are exceptions that allow others to do certain activities in relation to protected works.

Duration of copyright protection

In most circumstances, copyright lasts for the lifetime of the author plus 50 years. This does depend on the specific category of copyrighted work.

For details, see https://www.iponz.govt.nz/about-ip/copyright/duration/

Crown copyright
100 years – see https://www.iponz.govt.nz/about-ip/copyright/crown-copyright/

There is no copyright for New Zealand Bills, Acts, Regulations, Parliamentary Debates, Court and Tribunal judgments, reports of Select Committees, Commissions of Inquiry, or Government Inquiries.

Copyright ownership

The creator of the work generally owns copyright in the first instance. However, copyright ownership can depend on the type of work and whether the work was created in the course of employment or if it was commissioned.

Copyright is an intellectual property right and can be sold, bought, given away and licenced for use. Publishing agreements are examples of how intellectual property rights can be assigned to others.

There may be multiple types of copyright in a single work. For example, in a published book, the text, illustrations, and cover may be separately protected by copyright and can have different owners. There may be different copyright in adapted works – for example, the copyright in a book, play and movie of the same work may have different owners and rules.

Ownership of intellectual property is different from moral rights. Authors, directors and performers have certain moral rights over their copyright work even if the works are owned by someone else. For further information refer to https://www.iponz.govt.nz/about-ip/copyright/moral-rights-and-performers-rights/ The Intellectual Property Policy PDF182KB covers ownership of Intellectual Property (including copyright) created by staff and students at Victoria University of Wellington.

Breach of Copyright

Academic staff own copyright in the research and course materials they produce. Students own copyright in their own work.

If your copyright has been infringed, you as the copyright holder are responsible for corresponding with the infringer in the first instance. Misuse use of material by our own staff and students may result in disciplinary action.

Sharing course materials

There are lots of websites which encourage students to upload their notes in exchange for assignment help or study guides. This may include copies of course materials and resources provided to students by course coordinators.

If students are uploading the work of a lecturer or tutor without their permission, they could be in breach of copyright.

If you become aware that materials containing your IP has been uploaded to one of these websites, you as the copyright holder, can request a take down from the offending website.

Creative Commons Licences

Creative Commons (CC) licences are a way to grant people permission to use creative works in different ways than permitted under the Copyright Act.

CC licences allow you to share, remix and reuse material legally. Before using material check the licence to see what you can do with the content.

CC licences are an example of a copyleft (or “some rights reserved”). This is similar to some open source software licences. But it is important to remember while CC works might be free to use (you usually don’t have to pay), but are not “do whatever you want”. If you are using CC works, at minimum you will have to provide attribution (like a citation) to the original work. Some CC licences also restrict commercial uses, adaptions and whether you can on-share the work or not. There are currently 6 different licence types (listed from most to least permissive) that can apply to your work, or may apply to a work you want to use.

Finding Creative Commons material

To find creative commons material use the Creative Commons Search or using Google, go to Advanced Search and select the usage rights from the drop-down menu.

To find images that are free to use try:

Library Guide to Open Educational Resources (OERs)—you can search this large image site for Creative Commons material. This is found under the advanced search function
Everystockphoto.com—searches images across the internet and displays the licensing requirements under each image
Pexels – all images can be used for commercial and noncommercial purposes
Unsplash – all images can be used for commercial and noncommercial purposes.

Remember to check the CC licence first and provide the right attributions!