Copyright

Very interesting reading of the copyright laws for schools and TAFE's. If you want to read more see: www.smartcopying.edu.au

Some of the more interesting things I found were:
* In Australia there is automatic protection of copyright.
* Schools can use DVD's and videos for non-educational purposes; eg. rainy days and on bus trips (if the school provides the movie) ONLY if schools have a Co-curricular licence. If the school does not have this license, permission must be gained from the movie's distributor to play the movie.
* Schools should not borrow DVD's from students or parents as they could be pirated. There are serious penalties for playing pirated movies in schools.
* The Teacher Librarian should not have to police copyrighting issues at the school - each teacher should be aware of the rules and the penalties involved if copyright is breached. (This involves website and internet copyright as well as print materials, electronic materials, dvd's etc.)

Creative commons:
Schools are able to use creative commons resources free of charge. This includes music, film clips and photos. A list of creative commons symbols can be found on the smartcopying website. This will help teachers identify resources that are protected under the creative commons licence.