Analysis of the methods used by New Zealand university libraries to inform their users about copyright and licensing issues

Abstract

The application of advanced technology has brought many new challenges to New Zealand university libraries in terms of compliance with the Copyright Act. In order to increase the copyright awareness of the users and reduce copyright infringement, the libraries need to inform their users about copyright information. This research investigated the current methods used to inform their users about copyright and licensing issues. Content analysis was used to analyse the copyright documentation of the eight New Zealand university libraries with a purpose to assist university libraries in better understanding their copyright compliance. The results show that a variety of copyright and licensing issues have been provided to the library users. The main copyright information which is attached in the documents is about the definition of copyright, duration of copyright, definition of fair dealing, infringement of copyright, copyright exceptions, the purpose of copying, number copied and penalties. Copyright notices and stamps are provided in a number of library services, such as photocopying, course reserves, interloans and distance services. Additionally, the libraries also create links which enable their users contact with copyright responsible person or access to copyright resources. However, it still remains slight differences across the eight libraries in terms of the number of generated copyright documents, the level of frequencies of documents in which refer to particular copyright and licensing information. Due to the limitation of the study, recommendations for the future development are to expand the scope and depth of the research.