Australian schools are paying millions every year to access free online materials.

Under a compulsory license schools in Australia pay for a licence to copy materials such as books and journals without copyright permission.

As a consequence of this outdated licence schools are now having to pay even more to print materials that are free online or even when they ask students to do so for homework.

As the internet is becoming an increasingly important resource in schools an inquiry is being held into copyright licences which could see a complete overhaul of the system.