Collections WA contains material from libraries, museums, historical societies, galleries, archives and other cultural and research institutions around WA. The known rights and copyright status of items in, and accessed through, Collections WA varies. Collections WA contains, or links to, a wide variety of different materials: many are in the public domain, while others are under rights restrictions but are nonetheless publicly viewable.
Content discoverable on Collections WA is protected by the Copyright Act 1968.
Neither the Western Australian Museum (WAM) nor Australian Museums and Galleries Association WA (AMaGA WA) can grant permission to use copyrighted items.
The Collecting Organisation sharing the record on Collections WA may not be the copyright holder but may be licensed by the copyright holder to share the content within a set of restrictions.
INFORMATION FOR USERS
What can I do with content I find on Collections WA?
Before downloading, copying, adapting, publishing, distributing or otherwise reusing any of the items found on CWA, Users are responsible for:
- confirming or establishing the copyright status.
- understanding any restrictions or limitations as per the terms of any license.
- seeking permission from the copyright holder to use any uploaded or third-party created content on Collections WA, outside those covered by fair dealings and works in the public domain.
- complying with the Copyright Act 1968.
- adherence to any applicable Creative Commons licences.
- using content appropriately under the terms of “fair dealing”.
- respecting the moral rights of creators.
Where can I find the copyright or attribution information for a particular record on Collections WA?
Every public record on Collections WA has a section of information called “Copyright and Reference”.
If there is known copyright information, and it has been uploaded to Collections WA, it will be shown under this heading for that record. The attribution credit line will also be visible.
Alternatively, there is a media reuse link under the image on each records’ webpage. Clicking on this link will pop-up a window with details on how to contact the Collecting Organisation and send an email with pre-populated information about that record.
PUBLIC DOMAIN
In Australia, the term public domain refers to material in which copyright has expired and is free for anyone to use, for any purpose. The Partners recommend you attribute and cite the content regardless and recognise the Collecting Organisation and Collections WA where you can.
Content uploaded to or created on Collections WA is not automatically in the public domain just because it is freely accessible via the website. Content may be licensed for reuse or and carry restrictions regardless of its visibility or discoverability.
See the information below on Creative Commons licensing, Fair Dealing, and Moral Rights clarification.
See the Duration of Copyright Fact Sheet (©Australian Copyright Council 2024) for specific information.
CREATIVE COMMONS
Copyright-restricted content from Contributors is available to Users of Collections WA via two Creative Common licences. Creative Common licenses do not apply to content which is in the public domain.
- Attribution-Non-commercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND)
- Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-NC-SA)
These terms can be understood as follows:
- Attribution: the User must provide appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made to the content . This must be done in a reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses the use. The Partners recommend the following format for Attribution:
<record title><org name><link in full>
or
“1977 Toodyay Races”, Shire of Toodyay, cwa-org-37-2001.1413
- Non Commercial: Users must not use the material for commercial purposes without permission from the copyright holder.
- No Derivatives: The content cannot be used for commercial purposes and cannot be reworked (altered, transformed, built upon) without permission from the copyright holder.
- Share-Alike: Users may remix, transform, or build upon the content only if it is then redistributed under the same license as the original.
FAIR DEALING EXCEPTIONS
The Copyright Act allows you to use copyright material without permission if your use is a “fair dealing” for one of the following purposes:
- research or study.
- criticism or review.
- parody or satire.
- reporting news.
- enabling a person with a disability to access the material
- professional advice by a lawyer, patent attorney or trademarks attorney.
See the Fair Dealing: What Can I Use Without Permission? Fact sheet (©Australian Copyright Council 2024) for specific details.
MORAL RIGHTS
Moral Rights are the rights individual creators have in relation to copyright works or films they have created. Moral rights are separate from the ‘economic rights’ of the copyright owner. The creator of a work, who holds moral rights, is not necessarily the owner of copyright in the work. Creators have three moral rights. These are the right:
- to be attributed (or credited) for their work
- not to have their work falsely attributed, and
- not to have their work treated in a derogatory way.
Disclaimer: This Copyright Statement does not constitute legal advice and is provided for information only. For more information about copyright please refer to the Australian Copyright Council website or seek legal advice from a copyright lawyer.