You cannot upload copyright materials to public facing school websites unless:
- the NSW Department of Education owns copyright, or
- the material is Creative Commons (CC) licensed, or
- the material is in the public domain (i.e. copyright has expired), or
- you have been given permission by the copyright owner.
If you are uploading material to your website, make sure everything you upload to the website is labelled. This is particularly important when using images on school websites.
Sample labels
Below are some examples of how to label material on your website(s):
- For department owned material:
© State of NSW (Department of Education), 2023.
The copyright material published on this website is subject to the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), and is owned by the NSW Department of Education or, where indicated, by a party other than the NSW Department of Education.
Copyright material available on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.
- For CC licensed material that is not owned by the department:
[Title of resource – hyperlink to source URL] by [Copyright owner] is licensed under a [insert licence eg CC BY 4.0 Licence - hyperlink to licence deed]
- For public domain material:
[Title – hyperlink to source URL if from online] by [Copyright owner], Public Domain
- For material used with permission:
[Title of resource – hyperlink to source URL], reproduced with permission from [Copyright owner]
For more examples, see Creating Teaching and Learning Resources.
How do I know if the department owns copyright in materials?
The department will generally own copyright in materials if:
- there is a copyright notice with the department name or logo
- it was created by the department (e.g.Curriculum, Policy areas)
- a staff member from your school created the materials as part of their employment with the department.
Read more about Copyright (staff only) for NSW public schools.
What if I am not sure whether the department owns copyright?
If you are unsure whether the department owns copyright, do not upload the materials to your website.
To consider whether the department owns copyright, you should check:
- If the material has a copyright notice on it naming the owner (e.g. © John Smith, 2008). If the owner is not the department, you should assume the department does not own the copyright.
- Where the material originated from. If the material originated from someone else’s website, you should assume the department does not own the copyright.
If you are still not sure whether the department owns copyright and you need to use the material, contact the department's Copyright Unit at copyright@det.nsw.edu.au or the National Copyright Unit (NCU) at smartcopying@det.nsw.edu.au.
Smartcopying is the official guide for all copyright issues for Australian schools. It includes a range of guides, information sheets, FAQs, legal requirements and resources. Visit Smartcopying for the latest, authoritative information and guidance on copyright.
What if the department doesn't own copyright in something and I still want to upload it to the website?
You cannot place someone else's copyright materials on a public facing website unless:
- it is Creative Commons (CC) licensed, or
- the material is in the public domain (i.e. copyright has expired), or
- you have permission from the copyright owner.
Please note this is for public facing websites. There are different rules for intranets and school networks – see Smartcopying for more information.
Creative Commons (CC) licensed material
All CC licences allow materials to be shared publicly for educational purposes, provided you comply with the licence conditions.
If you want to use CC licensed materials for non-educational purposes, you will likely still be able to, but you will need to be mindful of the various licence requirements. For example, for marketing purposes, you should only use licences that allow commercial use (i.e. do not use a licence that requires non-commercial use).
Importantly, you must always attribute any CC licensed material as this is a requirement of all CC licences. For more information see How to attribute Creative Commons licensed materials.
For more information, see Creative Commons.
Public domain material
You can upload material to a public facing school website if the material is in the public domain (i.e. copyright has expired). For more information see How long does copyright last?
If you are unsure, contact the department's Copyright Unit at copyright@det.nsw.edu.au or the National Copyright Unit (NCU) at smartcopying@det.nsw.edu.au.
Permission to upload material
If you want to upload material to a public facing school website that:
- the department does not own, or
- is not CC licensed, or
- is not in the public domain,
then you will need to seek permission directly from the copyright owner.
This includes if you want to use images from the internet on your public facing school website or in materials that will be available on your public facing school website (e.g. in newsletters).
For information on how to seek permission, see Permissions on Smartcopying.
What happens if I use material without permission or do not attribute CC licensed material?
If you upload material without permission or do not attribute CC licensed material, your school or the department may be liable for copyright infringement.
You should review your public facing school website and ensure all content is:
- either owned by the department, CC licensed (and attributed properly), in the public domain or used with permission, and
- labelled accordingly.
For more information, including on what to do if your school receives an infringement notice, see the Smartcopying February 2024 Newsletter – Copyright Infringement Notices.