Catherine's blog for LiDA 103 - Open education, Copyright and Open Licensing in a Digital World

Copyright Case Study (MCQ)

Mary is a researcher working in an Australian University. She is co-authoring a paper with Deirdre, one of her PhD students. Their paper has been accepted for publication in an online journal subject to the authors clarifying the status of some maps they wish to include in their manuscript.

Mary and Deirdre want  to include in their paper a map of Australia which shows the location of the Woomera Rocket Range.  This map, published on page 71 of Fire Across the Desert / Peter Morton is based on 1946 Press reports. The book was originally published by the Australian Government Publishing Service in 1989. The AGPS has since ceased operations but used to fall under the purview of the Attorney General’s Department.

The Woomera Rocket Range falls within the Woomera Prohibited Area  (WPA) which is regulated by legislation and is a Defence premise used for the testing of war materiel under the management of the Royal Australian Air Force. The WPA is an important Defence capability and testing and evaluation asset that plays a significant role in Australia’s national security.

The authors want to overlay this map of Australia with an image held in the National Archives of Australia (Ref: A1200, L38160; 9759187). You can find the image by typing in the item barcode, 9759187, as a keyword in the Photo Search option accessible here, https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/BasicSearch.aspx

Question 1 - National Archives of Australia Woomera map

Can the authors rely on the NAA Open Access status to reproduce the NAA image in their manuscript?


DISTRACTOR <Yes, this map is in the Public Domain by virtue of having an Open Access status.>

EXPLANATION The Open Status permits digital copies of records to be viewed on the NAA website or purchased using a purchase request form. A status of Open does not negate the requirement for permission. Public Domain material, on the other hand, does not require permission to reuse.

DISTRACTOR <Yes, so long as the NAA is credited as a source and copyright owner of the image.>

EXPLANATION <Records accessible through the NAA are only made available for the researcher’s personal use. The NAA can only grant permission where the Commonwealth Government owns the copyright.>

ANSWER <No, the Open status only allows records to be viewed or, if a digital copy of the record is available, purchased.>

EXPLANATION  <To reproduce content held by the NAA for publication as a journal article, for example, requires permission and their submission of a Copyright Request Form.>

DISTRACTOR <No, permission must be sought from the photographer, W. Brindle

EXPLANATION  <In this case, the photographer is a Government employee. Under Australian Copyright law, the Australian Government claims copyright in works, including photographs created by its employees.>

Question 2 - Map of Australia

Can the authors rely on the fact that the AGPS has ceased operations to copy the map of Australia and overlay it with the NAA image so long as they cite the 1989 AGPS publication and the NAA?

DISTRACTOR <Yes, the 1989 edition of the book is deemed to be out of print because of the AGPS ceasing operations. This means there are no limits on how much of the map or the book may be copied.>

EXPLANATION <Out of print is not the same as copyright expired. Even if the book is out of print, the map may still be protected separately by copyright as an artistic work. The Out of Print status is subject to a commercial availability test. This test checks whether a new copy of the book can be obtained within a reasonable time and at an ordinary commercial price.>

DISTRACTOR <Not Applicable, copyright in the map has expired.>

EXPLANATION  <The map itself is still in copyright; it is just based on 1946 press reports.>

DISTRACTOR <Not Applicable, the authors can reproduce the map so long as they copy no more than a reasonable portion (10%) of it.>

EXPLANATION <Under Australian Copyright law, the 10% rule only applies to text.>

DISTRACTOR <Not Applicable, the book is available for free download from the Department of Defence Science and Technology  (DST) website.>

EXPLANATION <Freely available is not the same as copyright free. To reproduce the map in a new publication, still requires permission from the copyright owner.>

ANSWER <No, permission of DST and the NAA is required.>

EXPLANATION <DST own copyright in the map of Australia published in the 1989 book and the NAA own copyright in the photograph accessible from their website. Although the right to make an adaptation of an artistic work is not an exclusive right to creators of artistic works in Australia, the essential elements of the originals are the same in the adapted map and so permission of both rights holders is required.>

Useful Links

1. https://www.defence.gov.au/Copyright.asp
2. The NAA website has put together a comprehensive webpage explaining the access statuses it applies.
3. https://www.dst.defence.gov.au/copyright-statement



Copyright Case Study (MCQ) #L1DA103. CC-BY-SA 4.0