Introduction

You are welcome to copy and re-use material from the Library's collections provided you meet the requirements of the Australian Copyright Act 1968 and any special requirements that may apply to material that is rare, unique or culturally sensitive. 

Information on copyright provided by the Library does not constitute legal advice. If in doubt, seek legal advice before copying a work. 

The Australian Copyright Council provides many useful resources that explain how copyright law works and how this affects your use of material that may be protected by copyright. 

The Copyright Status Tool

At the bottom of each record in the National Library's catalogue, you will see a tab entitled "Copyright Status." This information is also shown in the Copyright tab of the record in Trove. 

The copyright status tool calculates an estimated copyright status based on information recorded in catalogue records using the MARC standard. This status is intended as an indicator only and should not be relied upon for legal decisions.  

In cases where information required to calculate copyright status is missing or ambiguous, the estimate of copyright status may be inaccurate. If the work contains any underlying material, such as a script, music or illustration, these may have different copyright terms. If the calculator cannot make a determination, it will return a status of "undetermined" or “uncertain” and you should contact us for more information about copying. 

The Australian Copyright Council's document on Duration of Copyright may be helpful when using the Copyright Status Tool. 

Rights and our rare and unique collections

Find out how we balance copyright law with donors’ rights.

Copyright basics

Read about the basics of copyright law and how they apply in libraries

Gaining permission

Learn about obtaining permission for copying and publishing

Publishing copies

Find out what you need to do to publish an item from our rare and unique collections

The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Cultural Notification

Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website contains a range of material which may be considered culturally sensitive including the records of people who have passed away.

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