Music – Schools

Yes. Teachers and students can perform musical works live or play recorded music in class under s 28 of the Copyright Act.

See Performance and Communication of copyright material in the classroom.

Yes. Schools are able to play recorded music at school under both the Schools Music Licence and either s 106 of the Copyright Act (for independent and Catholic Schools) or an interim licence with PPCA (for government schools).

See Schools Music Licence.

Yes. Under the Schools Music Licence students are allowed to perform musical works (e.g. play a musical instrument or sing) publicly on behalf of their school at off-campus school events  such as music festivals, music eisteddfods and the ‘Schools Spectacular’ where it is part of the usual activities of the school.

See Schools Music Licence.

Yes. Schools are able to play recorded music at school and at school events (eg assemblies, graduations, school concerts and performances) under both the Schools Music Licence and either s 106 of the Copyright Act (for independent and Catholic schools) or an interim licence from PPCA (for government schools).

See Schools Music Licence.

Yes. Schools can perform live music at school events at the school or another venue under the Schools Music Licence.

See Schools Music Licence.

Yes. Under the Schools Music Licence you can perform up to three songs, but if you want to perform an entire musical you will need to obtain permission from the copyright owner of the musical.

See Schools Music Licence.

Yes, teachers can play music from Spotify in class under s 28 of the Copyright Act. Spotify does not offer school accounts, however it is fine for a teacher to play music from a personal Spotify subscription.

See Performance and Communication of copyright material in the classroom.

Yes. Under the Schools Music Licence, schools are permitted to make video and audio recordings of school events at which musical works are performed or recorded music is played.

See Schools Music Licence.

Yes. Under the Schools Music Licence schools can authorise members of the school community (eg parents, guardians and friends) to make recordings of music performed at a school event for their own private and domestic listening or viewing.

See Schools Music Licence.

Yes. Schools can provide students with copies of sound recordings to use for educational purposes under the Schools Music Licence.

See Schools Music Licence.

Yes. Schools can incorporate a sound recording or a recording of a performance of a musical work (ie a recording of a school orchestra performing a piece of classical music) into another, unrelated work, such as a video recording of a school event.

See Schools Music Licence.

Yes. Schools can sell recordings of school events to members of the school community (eg parents, guardians and friends) for their private and domestic use, for free or for a fee charged solely to recover the costs of creating the recording, including the staging of the school event.

Note, however, that members of the school community are only able to use these recordings for their private and domestic use (eg they are not permitted to upload the recordings onto Facebook and YouTube).

See Schools Music Licence.

Yes. Schools can provide a digital or physical copy of a recording of a school event to other schools that are covered by the Schools Music Licence, for their own educational purposes, at no charge or for no more than the direct cost of making the copy of the recording that is provided.

See Schools Music Licence.

Yes. Under the Schools Music Licence, schools are permitted to make sound recordings to play at a school event (eg downloading music from a streaming service to play at a school graduation or school assembly).

See Schools Music Licence.

Yes. Under the Schools Music Licence schools are permitted to make sound recordings to play in class, whether face-to-face or virtual (eg in order to play music recordings relevant to material being studied). The actual playing of music in class is covered under s 28 of the Copyright Act.

See Schools Music Licence.

Yes. Under the Schools Music Licence, schools are permitted to make recordings (eg copy music from Spotify or Apple Music on to the school’s DTE) to play in class to students for educational purposes (eg to play music recordings relevant to material being studied).

See Schools Music Licence.

Yes. The exam copying exception permits schools to use any kind of copyright material in exams (including sound recordings).  This includes exams and assessments conducted online.

See Copying for Exams.

Yes. If the dance school is run as a separate commercial activity then it will need to obtain a licence from PPCA to play sound recordings during its classes. They will also need a licence from APRA to cover the public performance of music in the class of a sound recording (or played live on a piano during the class). They may also be able to obtain the licence it needs from OneMusic.

See Schools Music Licence.

Yes. Schools can rely on the Schools Music Licence to upload recordings of their school events, or live stream their school events, to the school’s official social medial page on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube, and/or the school website.

In order to communicate (ie make available) those recordings from the social media pages, schools can rely on the licences that the social media platforms have with APRA AMCOS and record labels.

Note that where a musical work or sound recording is being performed or played at a school event, and uploaded/livestreamed to a social media page, the post may still be blocked or muted.

See Schools Music Licence.

Music recording companies (ie record labels) and some music publishers use software to identify potentially infringing content on social media platforms, such as Facebook. When a school live streams a performance where a musical work or sound recording is being played, or uploads a musical work or sound recording, this software may alert Facebook or other social media platforms to mute the recording or send a takedown notice to the school.

If you are concerned about a live stream or recording being muted or your school being issued with a take-down notice, contact the National Copyright Unit.

See Schools Music Licence.

Schools can make as many copies of print (ie hardcopy) or digital sheet music as they reasonably consider they require  for the relevant school purpose, but see restrictions on choral works and Grand Right Works below.

See Schools Music Licence.

Schools can only copy up to three songs from a Grand Right Work (eg words and music that has been written expressly for an opera, operetta, musical play, revue or pantomime), but the school can make as many copies as needed for school purposes for each of those three songs.

Schools can only copy a choral work that is longer than 20 minutes where the public performance of the choral work is validly licensed (e.g. the School has a obtained a licence to perform the choral work).

See Schools Music Licence.

Some publishers of sheet music for choral works require schools to buy the number of copies they need of the sheet music (e.g. one copy per student in the choir). The school could still choose to buy one copy of the sheet music and then make the additional copies it requires under the Schools Music Licence. However, while this would be allowed under the Schools Music Licence, there may be a risk that the school is in breach of the contractual terms with the publisher of the choral work.

If you have any further questions please contact the National Copyright Unit.

Yes. Schools can make digital copies of print sheet music (ie scan to digital format).

Schools can then email PDF versions of digital sheet music to students, and/or upload the digital copies of sheet music to a DTE.

See Schools Music Licence.

Schools do not need to label the original. However, they must make a reasonable effort to mark any hardcopy and digital copies of sheet music, on the copy or near where the copy is made available. For example, schools could include a notice that licensed copies have been made under the Schools Music Licence, and keep this in the same folder as the licensed copies on a school’s DTE, or include the notice in the document or folder title.

• The marking should say ” AMCOS Licensed copy” and include the following information:
  • Name of school
  • date copied
  • the name of the owner of the original sheet music that was copied (e.g. if the school bought the original, the school or if it was a teacher, the teacher).

No. The Schools Music Licence does not cover copying of sheet music for private music teaching, even if this takes place on school premises. Private music teachers will have to purchase original copies of sheet music for use with their students.

No. The Schools Music Licence does not allow a school to loan copies of sheet music to any other organisation, including other schools, even if the original is owned by the staff member.

However, a school can lend an original piece of sheet music to another school (but they should make it clear that the school they loan to is not permitted to make copies from this original).

No. The Schools Music Licence only permits schools to copy sheet music belonging to the school or a teacher at the school.

Yes. Teachers can copy and communicate sheet music for use in online and hardcopy exams, under the exam copying exception.

For more information see Copying for Exams.

Yes. Under the Schools Music Licence schools can upload copies of sheet music to a password protected digital teaching environment (DTE).

Yes. Making copies of song lyrics on their own (or of sheet music with lyrics), is covered by the Schools Music Licence.

You can also rely on the Statutory Text and Artistic Works Licence to copy lyrics on their own (for example copying song lyrics for students to use as part of a class activity), provided this is for educational purposes.

See Statutory Text and Artistic Works Licence.

It depends. You may be able to do this under the flexible dealing exception in the Copyright Act, provided you cannot purchase the particular arrangement you need. You will also need to meet a number of other criteria for the Flexible Dealing exception to apply. See our information sheet Flexible Dealing for more information.

Yes. The copying of radio broadcasts by schools for educational purposes is permitted under the Statutory Broadcast Licence. The playing of radio broadcasts in class is covered under s 28 of the Copyright Act. See Performance and Communication of Copyright Material in Class.

See also Statutory Broadcast Licence.