Fair dealing is a term used to describe acts which are
permitted to a certain degree (normally
copies of parts of a work) without infringing copyright. These are:
- Private
and non-commercial research study purposes
- Performance,
copies or lending for educational purposes
- Criticism
and review of publicly available works
- News
reporting of current events
- Copies
and lending by librarians
- Acts
for the purposes of royal commissions, statutory enquiries, judicial proceedings and
parliamentary purposes
- Recording
of broadcasts for the purposes of listening to or viewing at a more convenient time
(known as time shifting)
- Producing
a back up copy of a computer program for personal use
- Playing
a sound recording for a non profit making organisation, club or society.
Note that fair dealing applies to audiovisual materials
such as broadcasts, film, video or sound
recordings only insofar as criticism, review and news reporting is concerned (and as specifically set
out in the above list). An individual may only normally make one copy of an item under this
defence, unless it can be shown to be fair to do more, which is difficult. Also, fair dealing
does not
cover use of the material for teaching (which is why it is necessary for the University to have
photocopying licences), so this defence can not be relied upon when providing copies (whether
electronic or not) to a group of students. If copying large amounts of material and/or making
multiple copies then permission should still be obtained or another exception relied upon.
Note too that it is necessary to include an acknowledgement
for the fair dealing defence to apply,
so be sure to include full bibliographic references.
For more details on the aspects of fair dealing most relevant
to the electronic learning environment,
see Copyright exceptions. 
