When an author writes a book, its content is protected by copyright. Copyright laws stop other people from copying or sharing the content of the book without the author’s permission.
Of course, copyright doesn’t just apply to books. It applies to all original material, such as magazines, online programs, videos, music – and this webpage!
The laws around copyright are strict; fines, penalties and criminal charges apply if copyright is infringed.
Authors, artists, composers – and publishers like Firefly – make a living from the sale of their work.
Copyright laws protect the copyright holder so they can continue to create original material for us all to enjoy.
Yes, all educational institutions must obey copyright laws.
However, there’s some good news!
Most schools have a statutory licence that allows them to ‘use text, images and notated (print) music in ways that would otherwise require a copyright clearance’.1
All state schools have a statutory licence automatically.
If you work at an independent school, make sure it is a licensed educational institution.
If your school does not have a licence, find out if it is eligible. Without it, you are severely restricted as to what you can copy. To find out more, email educationlicences@copyright.com.au.
Yes – up to a point!
If your school has a statutory licence, you are allowed to copy ‘a reasonable portion of work’ for educational purposes. The Australian Copyright Council defines a reasonable portion as ‘10% of the number of pages OR 1 chapter’.2
That means if you have a 30-page text book, you can photocopy three pages to hand out to the students in your class.
You cannot copy an entire text book, play, novel or other work without permission from the author.
It’s important to note that the 10% rule applies to a class for a whole year. As the Australian Copyright Council explains, ‘a teacher of a history class could only copy 10% of a commercially available book for that particular class. The teacher could not, for example, copy 10% of the book one week and a different 10% of the same book another week’.3
Yes – up to a point!
In copyright-speak, sharing material electronically is known as ‘communicating’. According to the Australian Copyright Council, communicating includes ‘emailing text, images and music scores to students and staff’ and ‘posting text, images and music scores to an intranet for student and staff access’.4
If your school has a statutory licence, you can communicate a reasonable portion of work (10% or one chapter) to your class for educational purposes.
If you copy material from websites and digital products to share in your classroom, be aware that copyright laws apply. In most cases you can only copy or communicate 10% of the content. In some cases, you might not even be allowed to copy that much; some websites and digital products have terms and conditions that restrict your right to copy the content. This is particularly the case when websites require a login or a paid subscription.
Firefly’s products are protected by copyright laws. To help you work out how much you can copy with a statutory licence, we’ve created a quick guide below.
| Sound Waves | How much can I copy? |
|---|---|
| Sound Waves Student Books | 10% a year (two or three units) for your class. |
| Resources such as Sound Cards, Playing Cards, Teaching Charts, Student Charts, and the Words and Sounds Book | 10% a year (four or five of the 43 sounds) for your class. |
| Sound Waves Online | This is a digital program and users are bound by Terms and Conditions of use. If you have subscribed to Sound Waves Online, you can copy or communicate the materials only for use inside your classroom within the period of subscription. |
| Sound Waves Decodable Readers | 10% a year (one or two pages of each story) for your class. |
| Maths Trek | How much can I copy? |
| Maths Trek Student Books | 10% a year (up to three units) for your class. |
| Maths Trek Online | This is a digital program and users are bound by Terms and Conditions of use. If you have subscribed to Maths Trek Online, you can copy or communicate the materials only for use inside your classroom within the period of subscription. |
| English Stars | How much can I copy? |
| English Stars | This is a digital program and users are bound by Terms and Conditions of use. If you have subscribed to English Stars, you can copy or communicate the materials only for use inside your classroom within the period of subscription. |
| Think Mentals | How much can I copy? |
| Think Mentals Student Workbooks | 10% a year (three units) for your class. |
| Think Mentals Digital | This is a digital program and users are bound by Terms and Conditions of use. If you have subscribed to Think Mentals Digital, you can copy or communicate the materials only for use inside your classroom within the period of subscription. |
| Writing Time | How much can I copy? |
| Writing Time Student Practice Books | 10% a year (six or seven pages depending on the year level) for your class. |
| BitMaths | How much can I copy? |
| BitMaths | This is a digital program and users are bound by Terms and Conditions of use. If you have subscribed to BitMaths, you can copy or communicate the materials only for use inside your classroom within the period of subscription. |
| iMaths | How much can I copy? |
| iMaths Student Books | 10% a year (one Investigation) for your class. Note: Year 7 contains four Investigations, so 10% would not enable you to copy a whole Investigation. |
| iMaths Tracker Books | 10% a year (seven or eight topics depending on the year level) for your class. |
| iMaths Online | This is a digital program and users are bound by Terms and Conditions of use. If you have subscribed to iMaths Online, you can copy or communicate the materials only for use inside your classroom within the period of subscription. |
If you are still not sure what you can use, copy or communicate, just ask us! Email us at info@fireflyeducation.com.au with details of how you want to use our materials and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Note: Information on this page does not constitute legal advice.
References