Procedures for Actioning Take-Down Notices and Other Copyright Complaints

also available as an on-line form

Overview

The Copyright Policy states that breaches of copyright law made by members of the University community will be treated seriously by the University. The University IT system is used to store or link to an enormous amount of material, thus clarity of the procedures for handling potential breaches of copyright is an essential element of ensuring copyright compliance.

Any allegations that the University has infringed the copyright of others must be acted upon as quickly as possible and in accordance with this Procedure. The Copyright Officer is the University's designated representative to receive notices of possible infringement (including formal Take-Down Notices) and will coordinate the actions required for removal of the material and follow up of the allegations.

This Procedure is made under the Copyright Policy in order to:

a) Specify the process by which potential infringements of copyright detected within the University should be reported to the Copyright Officer and actioned;

b) Specify the process by which the receipt of outside allegations of breaches of copyright by the University should be handled, particularly formal Take-Down Notices; and

c) By clarifying these processes, minimise delays in acting on allegations and therefore reduce the consequences to the University of breaching copyright.

Procedures

See Visual Flowchart of Procedures

1. Procedure Upon Receipt of a Take-Down Notice

a) A Take-Down Notice is any notice alleging that material is contained on the University IT Facilities or linked from the University IT Facilities in breach of copyright.

b) To encourage the reporting of potential copyright infringements on the University IT Facilities, all web pages that are designed using the prescribed University web template will include a copyright notice. That copyright notice will direct copyright rights holders to submit a Take-Down Notice to the University's Copyright Officer using a specific form on the website if they wish to request removal of material from the University IT Facilities on the basis that it infringes copyright. The University's copyright notice will include a Take-Down Notice template, which complies with the form prescribed in the Copyright Regulations 1969 (Cth).

c) If any member of the University community other than the Copyright Officer receives a Take-Down Notice, either electronically or in hard copy, the person receiving the Take-Down Notice must:

a) mark the Take-Down Notice with the date and time of receipt;

b) immediately notify the Copyright Officer by telephone on extension 35244; and

c) forward the Take-Down Notice and any accompanying documentation to the Copyright Officer.

d) Upon receipt of a Take-Down Notice, the Copyright Officer must immediately:

i) liaise with the Manager, Online Media and Manager, Production Support, ITS to identify the relevant Web Content Manager, or, if unable to identify the Web Content Manager, the relevant Server Administrator;

ii) forward a copy of the Take-Down Notice and any other relevant documentation to the relevant Web Content Manager or Server Administrator, requesting that they undertake the actions set out in paragraph 4 below; and

iii) notify the Head or Director of the School or Unit responsible for the relevant copyrighted material, and the Vice-President (Services & Resources) of the receipt of the Take-Down Notices;

iv) notify the copyright rights holder that the Take-Down Notice has been received and is being actioned.

e) At the request of the Copyright Officer, the Web Content Manager or Server Administrator must:

i) remove the relevant material from the University IT Facilities by the close of the following business day;

ii) where possible, inform the person who originally requested that the material be placed on the University's IT Facilities that the removal of the copyrighted material has been requested for the reasons stated in the Take-Down Notice (it may not be possible to inform the original requestor if, for example, they no longer are employed by the University); and

iii) e-mail the Copyright Officer with confirmation that the above steps have been taken.

f) If the copyrighted material has not been removed from the University IT Facilities by the close of the following business day, or if the Web Content Manager or Server Administrator could not be contacted, the Copyright Officer will contact the Manager, Production Support, ITS, who will arrange for access to the relevant University server to be blocked until the material is removed. Confirmation of this action must be sent by e-mail to the Copyright Officer.

g) As soon as practicable, the Copyright Officer will submit a report to the copyright rights holder outlining the actions taken in response to the Take-Down Notice, and inform the relevant Head / Director of the School / Unit, and the Vice-President (Services & Resources).

2. Disputing the Take-Down Notice

a) If the person who originally requested that the material be placed on the University's System wishes to dispute the Take-Down Notice, they must notify the Copyright Officer as soon as possible and provide all substantiating facts to the Copyright Officer.

b) If, upon review of the facts, the Copyright Officer believes that the Take-Down Notice could be challenged, the Copyright Officer will liaise with the copyright rights holder or issue a counter notice in the form prescribed by the Copyright Regulations.

c) Until the dispute is resolved, the copyrighted material must remain off the University IT Facilities or access to it blocked.

3. Other Notifications of Infringement

a) If any member of the University community believes that the availability of any material on the University IT Facilities may be in breach of copyright, that person is required by the Copyright Policy to notify the Copyright Officer. That notice must be provided in writing and provide the following details:

i) a description of the relevant material;

ii) the location (URL, hostname, or IP address and filename) of the relevant material; and

iii) why the person believes the material is in breach of copyright.

b) The Copyright Officer will investigate the alleged breach including, where possible, consulting with the person who originally requested that the material be placed on the University's System. If the Copyright Officer forms the opinion that the relevant material is infringing or is reasonably likely to be infringing, the procedure contained in paragraphs 4 to 6 above must be carried out. At the completion of that procedure, the Copyright Officer will inform the relevant Head or Director of the School or Unit, and the Vice-President (Services & Resources).

TEMPLATE: UNIVERSITY'S TAKE-DOWN NOTICE

The Take-Down Notice may be completed as an on-line form

YOUR DETAILS

Your name:

Your address:

Your phone number:

Your e-mail:

INFRINGEMENT DETAILS

Description of the copyright material in respect of which infringement is claimed:

Location (URL, hostname, or IP address and filename) of the above material on the University of Adelaide's network:

YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO THE COPYRIGHT MATERIAL

Are you the owner of the copyright in the above material?

If not, who is the owner of the copyright in the material and in what capacity are you acting on their behalf?

DECLARATION

I believe, in good faith, that the storage of the specified copyright material on the University of Adelaide's system is not authorised by the copyright owner or a licensee of the copyright owner, or the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) and is therefore an infringement of the copyright in that material. I have taken reasonable steps to ensure that the information and statements in this notice are accurate.

YOUR SIGNATURE:

Please use the following URL instead of linking to individual documents:
https://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/2643