There are provisions in the Copyright Act that allow literary, dramatic, musical, artistic or audio-visual works to be copied for the purposes of criticism or review, providing the work is acknowledged through a citation and providing the use of the work is 'fair'.

When determining whether your use of a work is 'fair', consider the following:

• it must be a genuine attempt to review and/or critique the work (e.g. comparing the work with another work by the author; comparing one movie clip with another as part of a film review)
• the criticism may be of the underlying ideas in the work, or the work itself
• criticisms and reviews do not need to be balanced and can be humorous.

Note: You cannot rely on this provision to use a work simply to explain or illustrate your own work. When you copy a work for criticism or review (or for any other purpose), you must acknowledge the creator and details of the work in a reference.

See the Copyright at UWA webpage for more information.