About AEShareNet
This Quick Guide provides an overview of AEShareNet (both the licensing system and the website). For other introductions, start with our Welcome page.
Contents of this page
- What is the AEShareNet licensing system?
- The AEShareNet licensing model
- Introduction to this website
- The companies AEShareNet and TVET Australia Limited
Each section has links to further documents.
What is the AEShareNet licensing system?
In summary, it's a collaborative system to streamline the licensing of intellectual property so that Australian learning materials are developed, shared and adapted efficiently.
In greater detail:
- It is a national collaborative system to manage intellectual property based on a system of standard and customisable licences and legal structures governing agreements between participants - sometimes referred to as "the AEShareNet licensing model".
- This website offers services to the public and members including a searchable database of learning materials and the ability for members to transact standard licences to use and adapt materials and to negotiate individual licences based on a common framework.
- It is constituted as a non-profit company, AEShareNet Limited ("AESL") ABN 34 091 619 402, established by the Australian vocational education and training sector to implement and support the AEShareNet licensing model and develop and maintain the website. These functions and activities are now managed by TVET Australia Limited ("TVET") ABN 99 062 758 632.
AEShareNet was established by the Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector based on some particular needs of the national training system in Australia. However the legal structures were deliberately designed to enable the AEShareNet licensing system to readily expand to provide services to other sectors (eg schools and universities) and to be used by organisations outside formal education and training systems.
The AEShareNet licensing model
Traditional licensing of learning materials involves individual agreements between an owner (licensor) and a user (licensee) by way of a written agreement typically covering use of a single item of intellectual property. These are referred to as bilateral arrangements. The document Problems with Conventional Licensing explains some of the problems and inefficiencies with this traditional approach, particularly in the VET sector with its multitude of players nationally.
The AEShareNet licensing system has a multilateral approach. It consists of Materials (or actually descriptions of materials), Members (who are organisations not individuals) and Licence Protocols (sets of standard terms and conditions).
The members agree to transact licences with each other under the legal framework (consisting in particular of the Constitution and Charter). The offer to make a particular material available under this framework is signified by attaching a Licence Mark to it (electronically or in print).
The AEShareNet licensing system currently has six Licence Protocols signified by the letters U, S, P, C, E and FfE. The first three are standard licences - the terms of every AEShareNet-S licence is the same and there is no charge between members for granting of a licence; and the same goes for all U licences, and for all P licences. The AEShareNet-C licence, on the other hand, allows for both customisation of the conditions of a licence and also for charging other members for the licence in various ways.
For more information about the AEShareNet licensing model see:
- The The AEShareNet licensing concept section of our Resources area explains the advantages of the AEShareNet licensing model and describes its various components. In particular, Key Elements explains the components of the model in more detail.
- The Licensing section of our Resources area explains the six Licence Profiles in detail including both the purposes for which each was intended and the implications of offering a material under a particular Licence Profile. For a quick summary refer to the document (Short) Licence Comparison Table.
Introduction to this website
This section describes the purpose and main structure of this website. For more detailed instructions about particular parts of the site, select Help from the main menu on any page.
There are two main parts of this site. The Public Site is accessible to everyone. The Members Area is available only to users acting on behalf of an AEShareNet member and requires a username and password. The key function of searching for learning materials is available in both areas but behaves differently as described below.
Public Site
The Resources Area of the Public Site contains most of the publicly accessible information provided by this website:
- General information about copyright and intellectual property management, particularly as it applies to education and training in Australia.
- Documentation about the AEShareNet licensing system including project history and key documents which established AEShareNet (Charter, Constitution etc).
The News pages provide current news and links to earlier news pages.
The External Links pages contain links to selected other websites and organisation.
Member Area
The Members Area provides access to the main function of the AEShareNet licensing system - the transaction of licences between members - and associated functions such as reporting on royalties due. Access to this area requires a MemberID, Username and Password. These are provided to people authorised to act on behalf of a Member. At the moment Members consist of the state training authority in each State and Territory and this membership typically covers all the TAFE Institutes and Colleges in that State / Territory.
Each Member has a Member Administrator responsible for the creation of logins for people able to transact licensing business on that Members behalf. Member Administrators also control the allocation of roles which determine what each user can and cannot do on behalf of that member.
For more information about the Member Area:
- See the Member Users for resources most relevant to Members.
- Contact the Member Administrator for your State / Territory via the Contacts page if you have any queries about getting access to the Members Area.
Searching for Learning Materials
A core part of the AEShareNet website is an extensive database of learning materials offered for licensing by members to other members. You can search this database from either the public site or the Members Area, and the same information will be displayed. However what you can do next will depend on whether you are logged in or not:
- Any user of the site can view details of learning materials. The AEShareNet website will provide contact details for the member who put this material in the database. You may wish to contact the member to discuss purchase and/or licensing of this material outside the AEShareNet licensing framework. If the member has provided a URL specific to this material the AEShareNet webpage will also contain a link to the Members website containing additional information about this specific material.
- If you are logged in as a Member User and have been given the appropriate permissions by your Member Administrator you can also initiate a request for an AEShareNet licence for use of this material. Depending on the particular Licence Mark the Member has allocated to the material, and other settings nominated by the Licensor you may be able to conclude this licence online immediately or you may need to negotiate with the Licensor to conclude details of the requested licence.
This database is constantly being updated by Members and you are encouraged to return regularly to the website to check for new materials.
Technical aspects of the website
For technical information about the website see Technical Overview and Credits.
The company AEShareNet Limited
AEShareNet Limited ("AESL") is a non-profit company established by the Australian Ministers of Education and Training to implement and support the AEShareNet licensing model and develop and maintain the website. As of 14 May 2007 these functions and activities are managed by TVET Australia Limited ("TVET") ABN 99 062 758 632.
For further information see:
- Contacts page for the company office contacts, and information about staff members.
- The Key References section of our Resources area for key documents such as the company Charter and Constitution.
- History of AEShareNet for the development of the project and establishment of the company.
- How do I join the AEShareNet licensing system? page to find out how to become an AEShareNet Member.