This is a blog that dwells somewhat on local Sydney history – you may have noticed! And this post is partly an explanation and a disclaimer. In short: I do my best to respect copyright. That doesn’t mean I agree with it – too often copyright hinders the creation of new material. Historically it has been important that new material reference and build on the past, and I remain in favour of that “fair use” principle. I don’t believe in plagiarism or blatant misuse. Thus I respect the law as it stands, applied sensibly.

The longer explanation: wherever possible I cite sources for my material and avoid knowingly breaching copyright. Please let me know if I have stepped on your toes in that regard – it wasn’t intentional.

Where I “sample” and mark recent material (with notes or circles) I do so for historical research purposes (ie ‘study’) only in accord with fair use under the act. I also believe that in all such cases I have only reproduced what is needed to obtain historical context and clarity, and that remains only up to or less than 10% of the original work. This is achieved by cropping or blurring the remainder. Where I have overlayed one map upon another I have not in my view altered or added to the original material, rather I have simply layered one image over another. Where I have reproduced a full page of a street directory or other map either I consider it to be no longer covered by copyright, or to be less than 10% of the original (and complete) work. In that way I do distinguish between a complete work, being a whole publication, and sampled pages of  a complete work. I have not copied any street directory published after 1954 in its entirety, nor do I intend to do so. Again, if I have stepped on any individual copyright owner’s toes please let me know. 

And here are some copyright snippets from other sites for comparison… 

The Australian Copyright Council site. A great source of up to date material.

National Library Of Australia | Copyright in maps

Maps published in or before 1954 are free of copyright. For maps published in 1955 or later by a government publisher, copyright lasts for 50 years after the end of the year the map was published. For maps published in 1955 or later by a non government publisher, copyright lasts for 70 years after the end of the year the map was published.

National Library Of Australia | Copyright in maps

Maps still in copyright can be copied for you in libraries under “fair dealing” exemptions of the Copyright Act 1968 for the purposes of research and study. However, you will need to demonstrate that you have followed your obligations under the Copyright Act. For a map in copyright a 10% portion of the map may be copied for research or study purposes only. In practice this usually means one A4 size portion (21cm x 30cm) of the map only. You do not need permission from the copyright owner to obtain a copy of a portion of a map as long as it is used for the purposes of research or study only. Permission is needed if you wish to copy the entire map, or if you intend to reproduce, display, publish or sell the copy.

This is a blog that dwells somewhat on local Sydney history – you may have noticed! And this post is partly an explanation and a disclaimer. In short: I do my best to respect copyright. That doesn’t mean I agree with it – too often copyright hinders the creation of new material. Historically it has been important that new material reference and build on the past, and I remain in favour of that “fair use” principle. I don’t believe in plagiarism or blatant misuse. Thus I respect the law as it stands, applied sensibly.

The longer explanation: wherever possible I cite sources for my material and avoid knowingly breaching copyright. Please let me know if I have stepped on your toes in that regard – it wasn’t intentional.

Where I “sample” and mark recent material (with notes or circles) I do so for historical research purposes (ie ‘study’) only in accord with fair use under the act. I also believe that in all such cases I have only reproduced what is needed to obtain historical context and clarity, and that remains only up to or less than 10% of the original work. This is achieved by cropping or blurring the remainder. Where I have overlayed one map upon another I have not in my view altered or added to the original material, rather I have simply layered one image over another. Where I have reproduced a full page of a street directory or other map either I consider it to be no longer covered by copyright, or to be less than 10% of the original (and complete) work. In that way I do distinguish between a complete work, being a whole publication, and sampled pages of  a complete work. I have not copied any street directory published after 1954 in its entirety, nor do I intend to do so. Again, if I have stepped on any individual copyright owner’s toes please let me know. 

And here are some copyright snippets from other sites for comparison… 

The Australian Copyright Council site. A great source of up to date material.

National Library Of Australia | Copyright in maps

Maps published in or before 1954 are free of copyright. For maps published in 1955 or later by a government publisher, copyright lasts for 50 years after the end of the year the map was published. For maps published in 1955 or later by a non government publisher, copyright lasts for 70 years after the end of the year the map was published.

National Library Of Australia | Copyright in maps

Maps still in copyright can be copied for you in libraries under “fair dealing” exemptions of the Copyright Act 1968 for the purposes of research and study. However, you will need to demonstrate that you have followed your obligations under the Copyright Act. For a map in copyright a 10% portion of the map may be copied for research or study purposes only. In practice this usually means one A4 size portion (21cm x 30cm) of the map only. You do not need permission from the copyright owner to obtain a copy of a portion of a map as long as it is used for the purposes of research or study only. Permission is needed if you wish to copy the entire map, or if you intend to reproduce, display, publish or sell the copy.