Print and Graphic material may include books, articles, anthologies, print music, plays, film scripts, and computer software. This can be in hardcopy or electronic format (on the internet or databases).

You may copy a "reasonable portion" of a literary, dramatic, sheet music or artistic work provided it is for the purposes of research and study. "Reasonable portions" are listed in the table below.

You may email copied material to your academic colleagues, so long as they are within the above mentioned limits.

Make sure you always attribute the creator's work as you would when referencing material.

Note that if you publish your material (academic publication, online, etc), it may contain 'insubstantial portions' of third party material. Insubstantial portion usually means less than 1% of the copied work.

You may copy beyond these limits if:

• the copyright is owned by Victoria University, or
• the material is provided with an suitable creative commons licence, or
• you are satisfied, after reasonable investigation, that copies (other than second-hand copies) of the work cannot be obtained within a reasonable time at an ordinary commercial price
• you get written permission from the copyright owner (This could be the writer, the publisher, or the web site owner)
• the copyright has expired (Copyright protection generally lasts for 70 years after the death of the author or the date of the first publication/performance, whichever is the latter - see the duration table (PDF, 24 KB).

• Look at the detailed guidelines on our Copyright website
• Book into a Copyright training session
• Ask a Librarian or contact the University's Copyright Officer on 9919 5958 or library.copyright@vu.edu.au.

Disclaimer:  This information is provided for guidance only.  For legal advice regarding Copyright law, please contact the Legal Services Department at VU.