Copyright Amendment (Disability Access and Other Measures) Act 2017

The Copyright Amendment (Disability Access and Other Measures) Act 2017 is an amending Act. It does not operate as a stand-alone code for day to day compliance. Its function is to amend the Copyright Act 1968 and related provisions. That matters in practice because businesses should not stop at the title of this Act and assume it contains the full current rule set. The operative obligations and permissions now sit in the Copyright Act 1968 as amended.

From the available legislation text, the Act has three main schedules. Schedule 1 deals with uses that do not infringe copyright. Schedule 2 deals with duration of copyright. Schedule 3 makes minor amendments. The most detailed and commercially useful material in the available text is Schedule 1, which inserts Part IVA into the Copyright Act 1968.

The simplified outline of new Part IVA says certain use by or for persons with disability, certain use for libraries, archives and key cultural institutions, and certain use by educational institutions do not infringe copyright. That wording is important but should be read carefully. These are not broad permissions to do whatever is convenient. They are specific pathways with conditions, purpose limits and, in the educational setting, payment and compliance mechanisms.

The clearest direct users identified in the available text are educational institutions, libraries, archives, key cultural institutions, and organisations assisting persons with disability. The Act inserts definitions that matter to scope. An organisation assisting persons with disability means an educational institution or a not-for-profit organisation with a principal function of providing assistance to persons with disability, whether or not it has other principal functions. A person with disability means a person whose disability causes difficulty in reading, viewing, hearing or comprehending copyright material in a particular form.

Libraries are also defined functionally for the relevant subdivision. The subdivision applies to a library if all or part of its collection is accessible to members of the public directly or through interlibrary loans, or if its principal purpose is to provide library services for members of a Parliament. The text notes that the subdivision also applies to archives. A key cultural institution is a library or archives where the body administering it has, under a Commonwealth, State or Territory law, the function of developing and maintaining the collection, or is prescribed by regulations for that purpose.

Many businesses are affected indirectly rather than as the primary institution named in the legislation. A software provider may host course content for a school. A digitisation vendor may scan and manage preservation copies for a library. A publisher may be asked whether an accessible format is available. A compliance consultant may help an institution respond to a collecting society review. In each case, the business needs to understand the institution's legal pathway and avoid building processes that go beyond it.

The available text creates two separate disability access pathways in Division 2 of Part IVA. The first is a fair dealing rule. A fair dealing with copyright material does not infringe copyright if the dealing is for the purpose of one or more persons with disability having access to copyright material, whether the dealing is by those persons or by another person. The legislation then lists matters relevant to fairness. These include the purpose and character of the dealing, the nature of the material, the effect of the dealing on the potential market for or value of the material, and, if only part is used, the amount and substantiality of that part in relation to the whole.

The second pathway is more specific. An organisation assisting persons with disability, or a person acting on behalf of such an organisation, does not infringe copyright by using the material if two conditions are met. First, the use must be for the sole purpose of assisting one or more persons with disability to access the material in a format they require because of the disability. Second, the organisation or person acting on its behalf must be satisfied that the material, or a relevant part of it, cannot be obtained in that format within a reasonable time at an ordinary commercial price.

For businesses, the practical trigger points are narrow. You need to know who the end user is, what format is required because of the disability, whether the use is truly for that access purpose only, and what basis there is for being satisfied that the required format is not commercially available within a reasonable time at an ordinary commercial price. This is not a general right to create alternative editions for convenience, marketing or resale.

Record-keeping matters here. If your business is preparing accessible copies for an eligible organisation, keep a clear file note or workflow record showing the requesting organisation, the required format, the reason that format is needed, and the basis for the conclusion about commercial availability. The legislation does not prescribe a particular form of record in the available text, but practical compliance is much easier if the decision trail is documented.

Division 3 of Part IVA deals with libraries and archives, and then separately with key cultural institutions. The available text is practical and purpose-based. It focuses on preservation, research and administration of collections rather than broad public distribution.

For preservation, an authorised officer of a library or archives does not infringe copyright by using copyright material if the use is for preserving the collection of that or another library or archives, and either the library or archives holds the material in original form or the authorised officer is satisfied that a copy cannot be obtained in a version or format required for that purpose, consistent with best practice for preserving such collections. The Act also allows an electronic preservation copy to be made available for access at the library or archives if the body administering it takes reasonable steps to ensure that a person accessing the copy there does not infringe copyright in the preservation copy.

For research, an authorised officer of a library or archives does not infringe copyright by using material if the material forms part of the collection, the library or archives holds it in original form, and the use is for research carried out at that or another library or archives. If the research copy is electronic, it may be made available for access at the library or archives if reasonable steps are taken to ensure users do not infringe copyright in that copy.

There is also a separate rule for administration of the collection. An authorised officer of a library or archives does not infringe copyright by using material if the use is for purposes directly related to the care or control of the collection. This is useful operationally, but it should still be read narrowly. The text supports collection care and control, not unrelated commercial exploitation.

Key cultural institutions have an additional preservation rule. An authorised officer of a key cultural institution may use copyright material for preservation if the material forms part of the collection, the officer is satisfied it is of historical or cultural significance to Australia, the use is for preserving the material, and either the institution holds it in original form or a suitable copy cannot be obtained in the required version or format consistent with best practice. Electronic preservation copies may also be made available on site if reasonable anti-infringement steps are taken.

If your business supplies scanning, storage, metadata, digital asset management or on-site access systems to these institutions, your contract and workflow should match the statutory purpose. Identify whether the job is preservation, research or collection administration. Identify the authorised officer. Record whether the institution holds the material in original form or why a suitable copy cannot be obtained. Build access controls that support on-site access only where that is the pathway being used.

Division 4 creates a statutory licence for educational institutions. The simplified outline says an educational institution may copy or communicate certain copyright material for educational purposes if the body administering the institution agrees to pay equitable remuneration to a collecting society. This is a licensed pathway, not a free-standing exception. That distinction matters because businesses often focus on the copying step and overlook the payment, notice and compliance framework that makes the licence work.

For works, the body administering an educational institution does not infringe copyright by copying or communicating the whole or part of a work if several conditions are met. A remuneration notice that applies to the institution and the work must be in force. The work must not be a computer program, a compilation of computer programs, or a work included in a broadcast. The copying or communicating must occur solely for the educational purposes of the institution or another educational institution that also has a relevant remuneration notice in force. The amount copied or communicated must not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the copyright owner. The activity must also comply with any relevant agreement between the relevant works collecting society and the body administering the institution, and any relevant Copyright Tribunal determination.

For broadcasts, the body administering an educational institution may copy, or communicate a copy of, the whole or part of a broadcast if a remuneration notice is in force, the material is the broadcast or copyright material included in the broadcast, the activity occurs solely for educational purposes of the institution or another institution with a relevant remuneration notice, and the activity complies with relevant agreements and Tribunal determinations. The text also extends the section to certain online content of broadcasts where the content was transmitted using the internet at the same time, or substantially the same time, as the broadcast, or where a free-to-air broadcaster made it available online at the same time as, or after, the broadcast.

One of the most important limits appears in the later-use rule. The statutory licence protection does not apply, and is taken never to have applied, if with the institution's consent the copy is used for a purpose other than the educational purposes of an educational institution, given to another educational institution without a relevant remuneration notice in force, or sold or otherwise supplied for a financial profit. In practical terms, later misuse can undo the protection for the original copying or communication.

The legislation also preserves voluntary licensing. Nothing in the division affects the right of the copyright owner to grant a licence authorising use of the material by the body administering an educational institution. So if a business supplies content to schools, contractual licensing still matters alongside the statutory licence framework.

A remuneration notice is central to the educational statutory licence. The available text defines it as a written notice given by the body administering an educational institution to a collecting society. In that notice, the body undertakes to pay equitable remuneration for licensed copying or communicating and to give reasonable assistance to enable the society to collect and distribute that remuneration. The notice applies to the educational institution the body administers and to copyright material for which the society is the collecting society, subject to the limits stated in the legislation.

The notice comes into force on the day it is given to the relevant collecting society, or on a later day specified in the notice, and remains in force until revoked. Revocation is by written notice to the society and takes effect at the end of the period of 3 months starting on the day the revocation notice is given, or on a later day specified in the revocation notice. Businesses supporting schools should not assume a notice can be turned off immediately.

Equitable remuneration is the amount agreed between the collecting society and the body administering the educational institution, or determined by the Copyright Tribunal if they cannot agree. The Tribunal may also determine questions relating to the copying or communicating itself where the parties fail to resolve the issue by agreement.

The compliance review mechanism is especially important for institutions and service providers. If a remuneration notice is in force, the relevant collecting society may give written notice that it wishes, on a specified day, to enter the premises of the educational institution to review compliance with the remuneration notice and any relevant agreements and determinations. Entry may only occur during ordinary working hours and on a day that is not earlier than 7 days after the entry notice is given.

The body administering the educational institution must ensure that the person entering the premises is provided with all reasonable and necessary facilities and assistance for the effective review, and must comply with any Copyright Tribunal determinations relating to entry. The available text states that contravention of that assistance obligation is an offence carrying a penalty of 5 penalty units.

For practical compliance, this is where record-keeping becomes critical. If your business acts on behalf of an educational institution, keep records of what was copied or communicated, the educational purpose, the applicable remuneration notice, the relevant agreement settings, user permissions, and any steps taken to prevent later unauthorised use. Good records make it easier to respond to a review and reduce the risk of disputes about whether the statutory licence conditions were met.

The safest way to read this legislation is to start with the question: which legal pathway are we relying on? A business can get into trouble by mixing pathways or assuming that because one use is permitted, related uses are also permitted. For example, a copy made to assist disability access is not automatically available for general distribution. A preservation copy made for a library is not automatically available for remote public access. A copy made under the educational statutory licence cannot safely be repurposed for non-educational use or profit-making supply.

Businesses that create or license content should also read the Act from the rights-holder side. The educational statutory licence does not remove the ability to grant voluntary licences. The disability access pathway depends in part on whether the required format can be obtained within a reasonable time at an ordinary commercial price. That means the way you offer formats, timing and pricing may affect whether another party can rely on a statutory pathway.

For service providers, the main compliance work is operational. Contracts should identify the institution, the legal basis for the work, the permitted purpose, and any restrictions on onward use. Platform settings should reflect those limits. Staff should know when to escalate unusual requests, such as requests to reuse educational copies for marketing, to provide preservation copies outside the institution, or to create accessible copies without checking commercial availability.

Because the available text is truncated beyond part of the collecting society provisions and does not reproduce the full amended Copyright Act 1968, businesses should verify the current consolidated legislation and any applicable agreements before relying on this page for a live decision.

The Act received Royal Assent on 22 June 2017. Under the commencement table in the legislation text, sections 1 to 3 commenced on Royal Assent. Schedule 1 commenced on 22 December 2017. Schedule 2 commenced on 1 January 2019. Schedule 3 Part 1 commenced on 23 June 2017. Schedule 3 Part 2 commenced on 22 December 2017. The legislation register entry identifies the Act as in force.

Those dates matter mainly for amendment history. For current compliance, businesses should work from the current incorporated version of the Copyright Act 1968, because that is where the operative rules now sit after amendment.