Adaptions and remixes

Adaption of a work is a right reserved to the copyright owner. There are no provisions or exceptions in the Copyright Act which cover the adaptation of material.

In most cases you will be required to gain permission from the copyright owner before you can adapt, translate, remix or mashup works that are under copyright.

The options are to:

• Seek permission from the copyright holder - for example contact the publisher or producer. Check the source of the material - some websites include copyright use details which may allow works to be adapted for education use for example.
• Depending on the use, there may be a case for Fair Dealing for purposes of parody or satire;  or using an insubstantial portion.

or source alternative content:

• Use open licenced content, for example Creative Commons licenced material that allows derivatives  (the licence labelled should not include ND which means 'no derivatives')
• Use public domain material

More information is available from the Copyright Council guide Mashups, memes, remixes and copyright  (PDF 113 KB)