Thinking of publishing material from the National Library's Collections?

1. Copyright
2. Additional restrictions
3. Obtaining a copy
4. Requesting the Library's Permission to Publish or Reproduce
5. Fees for permission to publish or reproduce
6. The Library's own publications
7. Contacts
8. Frequently asked questions about the publication and reproduction of material from the National Library's collections

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The National Library's collections are a rich source of material for the book you may be writing, or for your web site, film, magazine article, broadcast, illustrated lecture, poster, consultant's report or other work. The Library encourages all these types of reproduction of material from its collections, where copyright and other restrictions permit.

Before you publish or reproduce any part of a collection item, you will need to

• Find out if the item is in copyright, and, if it is, obtain permission from the copyright owner
• Find out if there are any additional restrictions on the item; these apply mainly to personal papers, recorded interviews and some indigenous material
• Obtain a copy of the material
• Complete a 'Request for Permission to Publish form', on which you undertake to acknowledge the Library and cite the source material

1. Copyright

Information to help you decide whether an item is in copyright is available on the Internet at:

Summary information sheets: www.copyright.org.au/page3.htm

The Copyright Act: www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ca1968133/

Library staff are trained to help you find copyright information.

If you find that an item is still in copyright, you will need to get permission from the copyright owner before you can publish or reproduce that copy, and before the Library can make a copy for you for that purpose. For books and journals, the publisher will generally be the copyright owner or will be able to put you in contact with the copyright owner. For unpublished material held by the National Library, such as manuscript material, art works and photographs, oral history recordings, and hand-drawn maps, please contact the relevant section of the Library, listed at the end of this document. In many cases, these sections will be able to give you name and address information for the copyright contact.

2. Additional restrictions

Some material in the National Library's collections is subject to restrictions beyond those imposed by the Copyright Act. For instance, some personal papers in the Manuscript Collection, and some recordings from the Oral History Collection may be reproduced only with the permission of the author or interviewee. Library material relating to indigenous ceremonies may also be restricted.

To find out whether any such restrictions apply to Library material, please first check the Library catalogue; if there is not sufficient information there please contact the relevant section of the Library, as listed at the end of this document.

3. Obtaining a copy

Once you have settled any copyright or special restriction issues, you can obtain a copy of National Library material in a number of ways. These are set out in the document Thinking of copying material from the National Library's collections?

4. Requesting the Library's Permission to Publish or Reproduce

You will need to request the National Library's permission to reproduce the material. You need to do this whether you purchased a copy from the Library, or used your own equipment to make a copy. You do not, however, need to obtain the Library's permission if you are simply quoting a small extract from published textual material.

To request the Library's permission, please complete a Request for Permission to Publish Form. You can collect these forms from any of the Library's Reading Rooms, request them by mail from any of the sections listed below, or, if you are reproducing a picture, you can use the form available at http://www.nla.gov.au/catalogue/pictures/copyright.html. If you are reproducing material from the Library's Manuscript Collection, you may use the form available at http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/documents/PermissiontoPublish.doc. For material from our printed collections (including books, newspapers, journals, sheet music, ephemera etc), you should use the Request for Permission to Publish Material from the Printed Collections form.

In completing the form, you undertake to adhere to a number of conditions. The Library applies these conditions on the basis of its ownership of the material. Further information on these conditions is included on the back of the form.

When the Library receives your Request for Permission to Publish Form, an authorised Library staff member will sign it and return a copy to you, so that you have a written record of the permission.

5. Fees for permission to publish or reproduce

The Library no longer charges fees for permission to publish or reproduce selected items from its collections, but reserves the right to charge fees if you wish to reproduce an entire database, or a facsimile or transcript or an entire manuscript, book or similar work.

6. The Library's own publications

The Library reserves the right to decline to give permission to publish where a proposed publication is likely to affect the financial viability of a Library publication that is in print or in preparation.

7. Contacts

Asian	Oral History
3rd Floor Tel: 02 6262 1500 Fax: 02 6273 4327 Email: amckenzi@nla.gov.au Contact: Ms Amelia McKenzie	Ground Floor Tel: 02 6262 1545 Fax: 02 6262 1653 Email: oralhist@nla.gov.au Contact: Ms Dianne Dahlitz
Manuscripts	Pictures
2nd Floor Tel: 02 6262 1259 Fax: 02 6262 1516 Online: Online Reference Enquiry Form	2nd Floor Tel: 02 6262 1370 Fax: 02 6273 5763 Email: pictorial@nla.gov.au Contact: Ms Sylvia Carr
Maps	Books, Newspapers & Journals, and Music
Lower Ground Floor 1 Tel: 02 6262 1280 Fax: 02 6262 1653 Email: maps@nla.gov.au Contact: Dr Martin Woods	Please contact Information Services – Main Reading Room or Petherick Reading Room Ground Floor Tel: 02 6262 1266 or 02 6262 1434 Fax: 02 6273 5081 Online form
Newspapers	Copies Direct Service
Lower Ground Floor 1 Tel: 02 6262 1501 Fax: 02 6262 1502 Email: newspapers@nla.gov.au Contact: Ms Mary Gosling	www.nla.gov.au/copiesdirect Tel: 02 6262 1269 Fax: 02 6273 2710 E-mail: docss@nla.gov.au
National Library postal address	National Library web site
National Library of Australia Canberra ACT 2600 Australia	www.nla.gov.au

Frequently asked questions about the publication and reproduction of material from the National Library's collections

Are there additional charges for publishing on merchandise eg greeting cards, souvenirs?

No.

Do I have to fill out a Request for Permission to Publish Form? Can't I just write you a letter?

Yes you can write a letter, though you will need to include in the letter your agreement to all the conditions listed on the form.

My company has its own image use agreement, which we will need the National Library to sign

Please send us the agreement and we will consider whether we can sign it. We will probably require you to sign the Request for Permission to Publish Form, as well.

I have a good image, made from a book in which a photograph of one of your collection items was published. Can I publish that?

You will probably infringe the copyright of the book's publisher if you publish straight from the book. If the book and the image are, however, out of copyright, you can copy directly from the image in the book. You will still need to complete a Request for Permission to Publish Form to receive the Library's permission as owner of the original item.

Will the National Library provide a publisher with exclusive right to publish?

No.

I'd like to publish a text transcript of a manuscript, so I don't need a publication-quality image. Do I still need permission to reproduce?

Yes - if you wish to publish the whole manuscript you will need the Library's permission. If you are quoting more than a brief extract, you will need to apply for the permission of the copyright holder but not the Library. In the case of a whole manuscript, as well as the issue of copyright, the Library may need to take into account its own publishing program in considering whether to grant permission to reproduce.

If I copy a collection item using my own equipment, I own the copy. So why do I still need to ask the Library's permission to use the copy?

The Library owns the collection item, and is entitled to set conditions on its use. As a condition of allowing you to copy it, we require you to seek our permission for any further reproduction of it. We normally do not charge for this permission. In seeking our permission, you undertake to cite the item correctly and acknowledge the Library as its location; your publication will thus help raise awareness of the Library's collections.

January 2003