- Date:
- 19 Feb 2026
Government has a statutory licence in the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) for uses of copyright material for the services of the State. Government also makes use of copyright material with direct and open licences given by copyright owners.
The statutory licence enables the government to enter agreements with Copyright Agency and Screenrights for uses of copyright material made within government.
The Department of Government Services (DGS) manages agreements with Copyright Agency and Screenrights on behalf of the State. Those agreements set payments from departments and participating agencies to Copyright Agency and Screenrights for use of the copyright material, who then distribute these payments to copyright owners.
Copyright collecting societies
Two copyright collecting societies are declared by the Copyright Tribunal to make arrangements with government:
Participating agencies
All departments and many agencies participate in the agreements with Copyright Agency and Screenrights.
Agencies that form part of the State for the purpose of the Copyright Act benefit from the statutory licence and must pay equitable remuneration to Copyright Agency and Screenrights.
Statutory corporations should assess their relationship to the State for the purpose of the Copyright Act before relying on the statutory licence to make copies or determining whether they are not required to pay equitable remuneration. Refer to guidance from the Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office (VGSO) for further information.
All statutory corporations may participate in the Copyright Agency agreement. Consider whether your agency is making copies of works for the services of the State to determine whether to participate. Refer to the IP Policy and Guidelines for further information about licensing third-party copyright.
Contact DGS for confirmation or to discuss whether your agency participates in these agreements.
What’s covered
The agreements provide a blanket licence for internal-to-government uses of copyright material for the services of the State.
Covered material
The blanket licence covers all copyright material within each collecting society’s declaration. For Copyright Agency, this generally means all text and images. For Screenrights this generally means all audio-visual broadcasts.
However, there are some limitations to the scope of the material covered:
- Use of computer programs is excluded.
- Use of survey plans are covered in a separate agreement.
Covered use
The blanket licence covers making government copies for the services of the State.
The agreement with Copyright Agency includes:
Both agreements exclude:
Cost of agreements
The cost of each agreement is calculated at a set rate per full-time equivalent employee (FTE). DGS reports the number of FTE employees to Copyright Agency and Screenrights annually.
Employees in educational institutions are excluded from the total employees reported to Copyright Agency and Screenrights, because the government statutory licence excludes many copies made by educational institutions. Otherwise, the rates apply to all employees, regardless of their role or use of copyright material.
If your department or agency routinely copies broadcasts, please contact DGS to discuss. DGS and Screenrights must be notified of any bulk copying of broadcasts. Separately, DGS leads a media monitoring services contract, which may avoid the need to make bulk copies of broadcasts within your agency.
Contact us
To discuss these agreements or other copyright matters, contact DGS’s IP Policy team.
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