Publishing on the Government Intranet
Digitising purchased products for use on the intranet
It is possible that purchased items may be digitised for publication to the staff intranet. Advice should be sought from the publishers of the item or from the legal representatives of your department before publishing such copyrighted items.
Article or images from the internet for use on the intranet
First check whether or not there is a statement on the site about what you are permitted or not permitted to do. If there’s no statement permitting you to re-use the material, you will generally need to get permission from the owner of copyright to do so. You may be able to do this by sending an email to the general email address on the website.
There are some provisions that allow governments and educational institutions to do various things with copyright material, including placing that material on intranets, if it is for the service of the Commonwealth or state, and is governmental in nature: see the information sheet Government.
Journal articles from NT Health Library Services databases for use on the intranet
The NT Health Library Service subscribes to a number of research databases and journals for use by NT Health staff. You are able to provide a link to a journal article from these online resources for other NT Health staff only.
Government use of copyright materials
The government has a greater right than others to use copyrighted material such as books, journals, music or video for government purposes. However the copyright owner is entitled to demand payment, and this right only extends to use for items that are 'governmental ' in nature and that there is an element of public interest.
For any other government use of copyright material e.g. for educational purposes, there needs to be the general copyright provisions of only 10% of a book or one chapter. Special notice must be included with all copyrighted material. If more than a reasonable proportion of copyright material is to be used, permission must be sought before use.
A government department may make multiple copies of a copyrighted item (article etc) to give to staff, if the copying is for the services of government.
Government departments and agencies complete regular surveys on the their use of copyright materials for the service of the government, which then helps determine the annual copyright fees paid by the departments. In this situation you would not need to contact the copyright owner directly.
Otherwise copyright law applies to all uses of material even if you are employed by the government.
DVD and video footage
Commonwealth, state and territory governments are entitled to copy any type of copyright material, including video and DVD for government purposes. However, before it can be copied and used, the copyright owner has to be notified and they are entitled to negotiate payment for the use of their material.
Copyright owners need to be notified, even if it is only to be used for internal government purposes. All copyright owners have the legal right to be notified, to be asked permission and to be paid for their product.
