Copyright for researchers and research students
Understand how copyright applies to the data and materials you use, create and publish as a Federation researcher or research student.
Copyright is important to consider throughout the research process – when you're using data and the work of others, publishing articles or your thesis and licensing your work. You need to be aware of the regulations (set out in the Australian Copyright Act 1968) so you won’t accidentally infringe someone else’s rights. Our best tip? Keep your material organised and request permission to use copyright material early (if necessary).
How to use copyright material
If you want to use copyright material, the first thing you need to do is check for exceptions and licences. If it fits under one of these, you can use it in your research without asking permission. (There might be limitations though – make sure you follow the terms of the exception or licence.) If the work isn't covered by either, you'll have to ask the copyright owner for permission to use their work.
If no licenses or exceptions apply to the copyright material you want to use, consider whether it will be an essential component of your final publication. If the answer is yes, you'll need permission to use it.
Most publishers have a permissions contact point, and seeking permission is standard practice. Your letter should include a description of the material you want to use, an outline of how you intend to use it and a permission request. Feel free to use the letter template in the Copyright for Researchers Toolkit (PDF 175 KB).
If you get permission to use the material, acknowledge this in your research and add a note to your copyright materials record. If permission is denied (or the publisher asks for a payment and you don't want to pay), you'll have to delete the material from your work and rewrite it to express the ideas in your own words (or contact the Copyright Office to discuss your options further).
Record the details of any copyright material you use in your research. This will help you keep track of your sources and permissions. See an example of a log sheet on page 5 of the Copyright for Researchers Toolkit (PDF 175 KB).
Using data
Who owns copyright for your work?
Any material you create while you're employed at Federation (using University resources, funding, facilities or supervision) is owned by the University, but you'll be granted a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use that material for research purposes.
If you take part in a University‑requested research project (like a PhD supported by University funding), copyright for the project outputs belongs to Federation. However, you'll own copyright for any theses you write.
Read our Intellectual Property Procedure or the Australian Copyright Council fact sheet for more info about ownership.
How others can use your work
If you're the copyright owner, you can decide whether you want to:
- apply all copyright law rights to your work
- release work with limitations under an open licence
- provide access to your work through a commercial vendor (publisher or platform)
- sign over your copyright to another person or organisation
- waive your rights and make your work available in the public domain
- allow people to use your work if they contact you directly for permission.
Licensing your work
A licence is permission from the copyright owner to use their material in specific ways. Licences can be exclusive (only the licence holder can use the material in the ways specified) or non-exclusive (the owner can grant the same rights to multiple people).
Licences are agreements that can be between you and
- a copyright owner whose material you want to use
- a publisher who wants to publish your work
- an online repository that will host your work.
Make sure you’re the copyright owner before you apply a licence to your work. And if you have an agreement with a funding body, read it carefully to see whether there are set conditions for research output sharing. Contact the Copyright Office for advice if something isn’t clear.
Open licences
Open licences – such as Creative Commons – are widely recognised and allow others to copy, reuse, distribute and sometimes modify your work without needing to ask permission first. If your research publication was created as part of your employment at Federation, you’ll need approval from your dean or director before applying an open licence.
Express licences
An express licence is direct written permission you give someone to use your work in a specific way. This can be useful when open licensing isn’t suitable, or when a collaborator or organisation needs clarity about what they can do with your material.
Traditional publishing
Some publishers require you to transfer your copyright to them. This may limit how you can use or share your own work in future. Always read publishing contracts carefully before you sign, and keep a copy for your records.
Third-party content
Does your work contain material created by others? You must consider how their rights affect what you can licence.
Onward use
Do you want to control future use of your work? Open licences allow others to reuse your work freely, which means you won't have any say.
Interoperability
Some licences work better together than others. This matters when your work is combined with or remixed into other projects.
Attribution stacking
If your work includes multiple datasets or third-party materials with attribution requirements, the list of attributions may become lengthy.
Irrevocability
Do you want your work to be made permanently available? Creative Commons licences can't be revoked once applied.
Sharing your work
The licences and exceptions that allow you to use copyright material for your research don’t apply in public contexts – such as presenting at conferences or delivering public lectures (unless you're only reviewing or critiquing copyright material). This means you must get permission from the copyright owner before you use any third-party material in a presentation.
If you want to post your work online, check your publishing agreement first. Many academic publishers require you to transfer copyright, which can prevent your work from being made openly available.
Some publishers allow an ‘accepted manuscript’ (the final peer-reviewed version before typesetting) to be deposited online, which may be used in the digital thesis. Where no version can be shared online, the digital thesis may only include links to the articles, meaning parts of your work may sit behind a paywall.
You can use Sherpa to look up publishers’ policies and find out which version of your work you’re allowed to upload and whether an embargo period applies.
If your work is already available through an online journal or a repository, you can safely share a link to it. However, if you upload your work to a sharing platform such as ResearchGate or Academia, the usual copyright rules still apply.
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Contact us
If you have any questions about copyright, please email copyright@federation.edu.au or call (03) 5327 9876.