Meaning of research or study
Research is defined as:
Diligent and systematic enquiry or investigation into a subject in order to discover facts or principles.
Study is defined as:
1. application of the mind to the aquisition of knowledge, as by reading, investigation or reflection.
2. the cultivation of a particular branch of learning, science, or art.
3. a particular course of effort to aquire knowledge.
4. a thorough examination and analysis of a particular subject.
More information from the Australian Copyright Council website:
DVD or video footage
Plagiarism
Plagiarism generally means taking and using another person’s ideas, writing or inventions as your own. Plagiarism is not an area of law and not all acts of plagiarism are necessarily infringements of copyright. A writer or academic may breach ethical standards by presenting someone else’s ideas as their own, but not infringe copyright because the other person’s ideas have been expressed in their own way, unless Moral Rights have been infringed.
Moral Rights was introduced into the Copyright Act in 2000 and as a result, acknowledgement must be made to the author of the material, unless it is reasonable not to. Creators have the right to be attributed for their work, and not have their work treated in a derogatory manner. Your institution will expect you to cite authors and references used in the course of your study in a particular way.
Copying from websites
You should first check the website for any statements about copyright which apply to the material you want to copy – the copyright owner may expressly allow you to print and/or download material, possibly under stated conditions. Otherwise, you may print and/or save material to disk if it is for your research or study, and the copying falls under the fair use guidelines (10% of material or 1 chapter).
The special research exception is unlikely to apply if you are supplying copies (e.g. by email) to people unconnected with your research or study.
