Educational Use and the Internet – Does Australian Copyright Law Work in the Web Environment?

Abstract

Australia is unique in the way it deals with the copying of copyright material by educational institutions. Australian copyright legislation contains compulsory licences for educational copying. It recently introduced a new flexible dealingexception for educational instruction for works not covered by the statutory licences. As educational use of free and publicly available Internet material is increasing, the Australian Education Sector is questioning whether the current statutory licence scheme is appropriate for the educational use of free and publicly available Internet material. It has asked the Australian Government to review the scope of the statutory licences. In particular, it has asked for a new exception for the educational use of free and publicly available Internet material. This article explains the proposed reform and the rationale behind it.