Copyright infringement reporting
Managing infringements: teaching materials posted online
Federation University teaching content posted online without permission is an infringement of University copyright, and may result in legal or University disciplinary action for the student posting the material.
The copyright of course materials, lecturers' handouts, exam questions and answers, or any learning and teaching content is either owned by the University, or, rights for teaching use have been granted through a licence or fee.
- Search for your course code in a search engine. You can exclude results from the Federation website by using the advanced search options: Example search string in Google: "ATSGC" -federation.edu.au
- Go to the sites and search directly. There are many note-sharing sites - below are some examples.
| Site | Copyright infringement notification |
|---|---|
| Course Hero | Course Hero takedown form |
| Studocu | Studocu copyright infringement notification |
Directly request the site to remove the content. This is known as a 'takedown' notice. This is especially effective for sites hosted in the USA as they are subject to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which requires by law that the site remove the infringing content.
If a request to a site does not result in removal of content, contact the University Copyright Office for further advice.
The copyright in a students' own work is retained by the student, as are notes taken by a student in their own words. Students should be aware of other aspects of academic misconduct outside of copyright infringement, for example collusion or plagiarism or contract cheating, which may be breached by uploading content online, and by others downloading and reusing.
The University Copyright Office can assist with advice and takedown notices on request. Email copyright@federation.edu.au
Steps to dissuade students from posting to note-sharing sites:
- Include a clear copyright ownership notice on your teaching content, including lecture notes, presentations and assignments. Clearly cite content which is third party content attributing the rights of other authors / creators / copyright owners. The format is Copyright or © Federation University [insert year].
- Make sure your students are aware of the legal and academic repercussions of their actions as outlined in the Student Code of Conduct and Student Plagiarism Procedure.