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Copyright: For Teaching Staff

Guidance on permitted use of copyright works for study, research and teaching purposes

Copyright licences

Whitireia and WelTec have Copyright Licences with:

These copyright licences make compliance quick and simple for staff. They give permission for you to copy, scan, download and share copyright protected materials with your students or other staff for educational purposes...But there are limits on this!

  • You can only share with students or staff of your home institution/s, e.g. Whitireia or WelTec.
  • There are limits to what can be copied and how used.
  • You MUST always acknowledge where you obtained the information from, i.e. by creating an APA reference for the resource that you have copied.

Acknowledgement of Source

You MUST acknowledge where you obtained the information from, i.e. by creating an APA reference for the resource that you have copied.

An APA reference has 4 elements.  

  • Author/Editor (Who)
  • Date (When)
  • Title (What)
  • Source (Where)

If Missing Information

Missing element Reference list entry In text ciation
Author Title. (Date). Source. (Title, year). or Title (year)...
Date Author. (n.d.). Title. Source. (Author, n.d.).or Author (n.d.)...
Title Author. (Date). [Description of the work]. Source  (Author, year). or Author (year)...

Use and limitations

  • Material that originates from a printed book, journal or magazine (sometimes called hard copies)
  • A scanned or digital copy of an original printed version
  • Overseas and local newspapers (digital and print content)
  • Any audiovisual programme - including movies, documentaries, Māori language, news and current affairs
  • Audiovisual material legally available online - download podcasts, vodcasts or programmes from the internet. Note: This doesn't include commercial streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime etc.
  • Music can be copied or reproduced for educational purposes, including combining music with video or digital recordings
How much can you copy/how can you use?

For the purposes of teaching, staff may do the following:

  • Copy from books
    Up to 10% or one chapter of a book, or whichever is greater (even if the majority of it is pictures). You CANNOT copy the whole book.

  • Copy from short stories or poetry
    15 pages of a book.

  • Copy from journals/magazines
    One article per issue, or more if on the same topic.

  • Copy from overseas and local newspapers
    Five articles per issue, from online or hard copy sources.

  • Copy from theses
    Copyright is owned by the Thesis author. You need to obtain permission before copying.

  • Copy of audiovisual material
    Tutorial staff can copy any programme broadcast on TV or radio, or any audiovisual material from the internet to use for teaching purposes.
    eTV is a collection of audiovisual resources that you can use for teaching purposes, and ‘EVA’, the Enhanced Video Annotation service, gives all eTV users a set of annotation tools that make it easy to turn any video into an interactive video.

  • Copy for exams
    The Copyright Act 1994 (section 49) allows staff and ākonga/students to copy anything for the purposes of examination. This may involve setting the questions, communicating the questions to candidates, or answering the questions. Note: This exception does not allow the work to subsequently be made publicly available. 

  • Performance of music
    Music can be performed in public for educational purposes, including lectures, tutorials and institutional events where there is no charge for entry.

  • Handouts, class notes and lecturer compiled worksheets (printed and digital)
  • Interactive whiteboards and screens
  • Password protected intranet sites or learning management systems (e.g. Moodle)
  • Email
  • Mobile networks (Music)
    Note: These copies cannot be shared outside of the institutions.

Helpful resources

Copyright Use in the Education Sector (Copyright Licensing New Zealand)

Understanding Copyright (Copyright Licensing New Zealand)

Copyright Basics eLearning (Copyright Licensing New Zealand)

Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand Legislation)

Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Act 2011 (New Zealand Legislation)

Copyright protection in New Zealand (MBIE)

Māori and Intellectual Property (NZ Intellectual Property Office)

Crown Copyright (NZ Intellectual Property Office)

Open Educational Resources (OER)

Screenrights

APRA/AMCOS

Tohatoha Aotearoa Commons

Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand