Creating a copyright statement
Copyright automatically arises when an idea is expressed in a material form (i.e. written down or stored in electronic form). This means the exclusive right to reproduce, communicate, adapt or perform newly created material such as documents, theses and PowerPoint presentations is held by the creator (unless there is an agreement to the contrary).
Therefore it's important to mark your work to let others know how they can use it. As user of copyright material it's also important to search for copyright statements so you use other people’s work correctly..
The copyright owner’s intentions
As a creator it's likely you have a certain idea of how you want others to use your work. For example, a photographer may upload digital copies of their photographs to their website to advertise them for sale. Their intention is likely to be that the photographs only their to be viewed and if people want to make copies they must seek permission. In contrast, another photographer may upload a number of their photographs to the photo sharing site Flickr with the intention to share the photographs with anyone who wishes to use them.
It can be difficult for a user to interpret how they should use the photos without any further information. Therefore it's importnat to consider how you want others to use your work and provide enough information so they can use it as you intended.
Creating licences and statements
There are several ways to convey to others how you wish them to use your material. Where copyright owners don't want others to use their material without seeking written permission they often provide a statement such as:
© Joe Bloggs 2000. All rights reserved.
However, without further contact information it makes it difficult for the user to track down the contact details of the owner. It's a good idea to provide some form of contact details with the material so users can obtain permission easily if you want them to have to ask for permission to use your material.
© Joe Bloggs 2000. All rights reserved. joeyb@swin.edu.au
You might want to add to something like this to your statement:
“You may download, print and reproduce this material in an unaltered form for your personal use. All other rights are reserved.”
If there is a page within the website dedicated to terms of use you may like to consider some of the following:
“Material contained on the [insert name] website is copyright (c) Swinburne University of Technology, except where indicated otherwise. You may [insert use permitted here e.g download, print and reproduce] this material in [insert form of use here e.g "an unaltered form"] for your personal use. All other rights are reserved. Requests for further permission to use this material should be directed to: [contact name]”
Creative Commons
Creative Commons allows a copyright owner to provide a license over their material. The nature of a creation commons licence is open. This means anyone can choose to use your work according to the Creative Commons licence you have applied to your work. They can be applied to a range of content such as websites, music, film, photography, literature and PowerPoint presentations.
Further information concerning the use of Creative Commons licensing is available.
Creative Commons licence v. statutory licence
The Creative Common licencing system is mutually exclusive of the university’s statutory and music licences. This means you should not use any statutory notices or labels if you are using Creative Commons licenced material.
For further information contact the Copyright Office.