CC & Government Guide Using Creative Commons 3.0 Australia Licences on Government Copyright Materials

• Anne Fitzgerald, Neale Hooper, Cheryl Foong

This Guide deals with the licensing of government copyright materials for distribution and reuse under Creative Commons (CC) 3.0 Australia licences.This Guide has been developed for government departments and agencies that make their copyright materials available for access, use and reuse. It provides practical step-by-step guidance for agencies and their officers on licensing and use of government copyright materials under Creative Commons 3.0 Australia (CC) licences.

In Australia, as in other countries worldwide, there is a growing awareness at the government level of the advantages of using open content licences when distributing or providing access to their copyright materials, to give effect to their policies on open access and reuse of public sector materials. CC licences are an internationally recognized suite of open content licences which can be used by governments as a simple and effective mechanism to support the distribution and reuse of their copyright materials, particularly where it is released in digital form online or on DVD or CD.

This Guide covers:
• copyright law basics and how copyright applies to government materials;
• the importance of whole of government Intellectual Property (IP) standards and policies;
• open access practices and the benefits of open access practices when adopted by governments; and
• how CC licences can be used by agencies to achieve open access to government material.

This is a step-by-step Guide. When proceeding through this Guide at each step, consider what is a suitable licence for the material that your agency is considering for licensing. The relevant whole of government IP policies and standards, and your agency’s legislation, IP policies and guidelines, will indicate the issues you need to consider in deciding which of the six Creative Commons (CC) licences is to be selected and applied

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The CC & Government Guide is licensed by Professor Anne Fitzgerald, Neale Hooper and
Cheryl Foong under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence.

To view a copy of
this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/.
The CC & Government Guide is available online at http://creativecommons.org.au/sectors/government and at
http://eprints.qut.edu.au/38364/.