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Copyright and music: students and staff

Using music, creating music and performing music are all activities which bring students and staff into contact with copyright law. Copyright law is a way of rewarding composers and performers for their creative work by granting them a monopoly in reproducing, performing, publishing their works and communicating their material online. Copyright will protect your rights as a performer and creator and also requires you to respect the rights of other copyright owners, creators and performers.

Further Information specific to music students:

Allowances under the Copyright Act

The Copyright Act provides certain limited allowances for music users in educational contexts:

  • 'Fair dealing': students and staff (engaged in research) may rely on a special 'Fair dealing' allowance for copying limited amounts of sheet music and music recordings. In terms of amounts, the Act is vague as to what amount might be deemed fair with regard to a sound recording. For sheet music, a fair amount is often estimated as 10% of the number of bars in a work or song. It may be considered fair to copy a larger amount if the music is unavailable for purchase or out of print. In any case, use of the music and or recordings would be strictly limited to an individual's personal research and study: you can't rely on this allowance in the Copyright Act for making multiple copies, emailing music, performing music in public or putting music online. If you need copies of sheet music for activities outside the University (private tuition, performing as a private performer, etc) you will need to buy copies of music or contact music publishers for permission to make copies of sheet music. AMCOS may be able to help in locating the relevant publisher. AMCOS also publish a useful 'Guide to using print music in Australia'.The only exception would be where the copyright in the sheet music and the copyright in the published edition have expired. Consult the Copyright Adviser for further advice and refer to the general information on Fair Dealing.

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  • Performing or playing music in class: Staff and students can play (but not copy or put online) purchased CDs or other leaglly purchased music in a live class, provided that the audience is limited to students and teachers who are taking part in the instruction (and that no fee is charged). Note however that some of the music found on the Internet is online without permission of the copyright owner. Be mindful of the terms of use governing music purchased from legal music distribution sites (the terms may prohibit 'public performance' even in class) and avoid P2P sites where the music offered is likley to be unauthorised. these should not be played in class.

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  • Staff copying sheet music for students: unlike the primary and secondary school system, at tertiary level, only limited amounts of sheet music (10% of a music score) can be copied when providing multipile copies for use in a unit or coruse. This allowance is part of the Part VB 'CAL' licence within the Copyright Act. The copying has to be by, or on behalf of, the University and copies used only for for the educational purposes of the University (ie for the course of study). AMCOS (AMCOS/APRA) also publish a guide to using print music in Australia which may be helpful.

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The Universities Educational Music Licence

The University's Educational Music licence has been negotiated between all Australian universities and APRA/AMCOS, PPCA and ARIA representing most (but not all) music publishers, composers and record labels. The licence mainly deals with the recording of music, but also includes some other activities. For more details about the Educational Music Licence refer to the FAQs on music.

If you are using copyright material, composing or performing in musical activities unrelated to your studies or if you leave the university, the Music Licence is not applicable to you.

Music Licence Repertoire

Moreover, the licence does not cover ALL music: only music within the repertoire of the four Australian music societies: check the repertoires at the following webpages

  • APRA/AMCOS (Worksearch database)
  • ARIA (PDF, list of licensors/labels)
  • PPCA (PDF, lists of labels)

Consult the Copyright Adviser for more advice about whether an item of music is within the repertoire.

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Copying recordings under the licence

There are strict licence conditions that apply to using the Music Licence:

Copies of commercially produced sound recordings can be made under the licence, provided that the copies are made from tangible formats (ie must be sourced from CDs, audio tapes or vinyl records: not from downloaded music) and the music selection falls within the licence repertoire.

Use of the copies must be strictly educational: ie, the copies are made for students in a particular course of study at Monash, for their own personl study or for the legitimate administration and assessment of that course by associated staff. The copies can not be distributed to others outside the coruse of study or the University ; they can not be made available or sold to the general public nor can they be used for any commercial activity.

Notice and citation requirements for copies

Copies made must include the following Music Licence Copyright Warning Notice:

This recording has been made by Monash University under the express terms of an educational licence between it, AMCOS and ARIA and may only be used as authorised by Monash University pursuant to the terms of that licence.

and full citation details for the work/s copied or recorded:

  • The title of each musical work;
  • the name of each composer, lyricist and arranger of the musical work; and
  • if the recording contains an ARIA Sound Recording, the artist/group name and the record company label.

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Streaming music under the licence

You can stream music that is in the licence repertoire to students in a course of study through a restricted access website (ie MUSO). The streaming must be for educational purposes under the Music Licence: ie, using the music for a particular course of instruction, study or research at Monash, including administration and assessment of that course. The streaming can not be made available to the general public nor can it be used for any commercial activity.

Notice and citation requirements for streaming music

Music streamed under the Educational Music Licence must display or include the licence Copyright Warning Notice (for streaming music):

This recording has been made by Monash University under the express terms of an educational licence between it, ARIA, AMCOS, APRA and PPCA and may only be used as authorised by Monash University pursuant to the terms of that licence.

and full citation details for the work/s streamed:

  1. The title of each musical work
  2. The name of each composer, lyricist and arranger of the musical work
  3. (If the recording contains an ARIA Sound Recording), the artist/group name and the record company label.

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Performing and making recordings of performances under the licence

Staff and students can perform musical works within the music licence repertoire and make a video-recording of this performance at a University event: a class, a free student performance (not including dramatic works) or a graduation ceremony or similar. Other types of University events could be free concerts, openings or meetings where music is performed in the background.

Copies of these performances can be made, provided that access to the copies is restricted to students and staff of Monash or their familes for private and domestic use, and the copies include the same notices and citatin details as for are the Music Copyright Warning Notice for recodings is attached and all musical works and performers citation details are included. Copies can not be sold at a profit, but only for cost recovery.

You can also copy music for inclusion as a soundtrack to a videorecording of a University Event.

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Other performing and recording licence agreements

Performance Licence

If you want to perform in a concert that is not a University Event and does not fall under the Music Licence, the venue will need a separate performance licence to hold the event. This can be obtained from APRA. You may be responsible for this if you are organising the event or providing the venue. See also Performing Music

Recording Licence

If you want to record a concert or performance that is not a University Event and does not fall under the Music Licence, you will need a separate recording licence to record the concert. This can be obtained from APRA. APRA requires that you apply for this licence at least two months in advance of the concert or performance. See also Recording Performances

Music Collecting Societies

APRA is the Australasian Performing Right Association. It is a non-profit organisation which grants licences and collects royalties for the performance rights of creators. Every time there is a public performance of a musical work, the composer and/or performer may be entitled to royalties. If you are a composer you may want to consider joining APRA. However, you need to be aware of the membership conditions. For more information see royalties and licensing options.

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AMCOS is the Australian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society. It is a non-profit organisation which grants licences and collects royalties for the mechanical reproduction rights of creators. Every time there is a reproduction of a musical work, such as copying a CD or copying sheet music, the composer and performer may be entitled to royalties. Similarly, every time there is an online communication of a musical work, such as downloading a mobile ringtone, the copyright owner would receive royalties. If you are an unpublished composer you may want to consider joining AMCOS. However, you need to be aware of the membership conditions. If you are already published, AMCOS collects royalties on behalf of the music publisher who will forward royalties to you, depending on your agreement with the publisher. For more information see royalties and licensing options.

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PPCA is the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia. It is a non-profit organisation which represents record labels and Australian recording artists. It collects royalties and grants licences for the public performance, broadcast or communication of recorded music. If you are a recording artist or have a record label you may want to consider joining PPCA. However, you need to be aware of the membership conditions. For more information see royalties and licensing options.

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ARIA

ARIA is the Australian Recording Industry Association. It is not a collecting society but an industry body which represents the interests of international and local record companies. It can provide information about licensing reproduction of sound recordings.

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Source citation when using music

Just as with other kinds of intellectual property, music used or reproduced in study and research needs to be accurately and adequately cited. Provide full details of the source of any music used, including the artist, composer/s, performers/group and record company or label (refer to citation under the Educational Music licence, above).

You have a moral right of acknowledgment for your contribution as a creator or a performer. So when you use other people's creative works in your activities, you also need to acknowledge their moral rights and cite them as the composers, lyricists and/or performers of the work. For more information refer to the Moral Rights page on this site.

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Send an email inquiry to the University's Copyright Adviser.