Australian copyright law Australian copyright law is based on the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and defines copyright in Australia. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (as amended) is the current national copyright legislation. It does not cover all forms of intellectual property, for example, trademarks, patents and circuit layouts are covered by separate legislative Acts. However, designs may be covered by the Copyright Act (as sculptures or drawings) as well as by the Design Act. Duration of copyright Australia uses a "plus 50" rule for determining when a work will enter the public domain. Put simply, a work enters the public domain 50 years following the year of the creator's death, with exceptions. For example, the work of an author who died in 1950 entered the public domain in 2001. Photographs and anonymous/pseudonymous works are copyright for 50 years from their first publication. Most other works are also dated from the first publication/broadcast/performance where this occurred after the author's death. The period of 50 years is counted from the end of the relevant calendar year, and was the minimum term under the Berne Convention. By contrast, the European Union has adopted a "plus 70" rule, with a foreign reciprocity clause to encourage harmonisation of the period. The United States Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (1998) defines an entirely different rule based on the year of first publication in the US: generally, anything published before 1923 is public domain. An interesting consequence of this for the Internet is that a work may be public domain in the US but not in Australia, or vice versa. It is important to note that copyright does not depend on the country of origin of publication or of the author. A work published in the US by a British author may still be public domain in Australia if the author died more than 50 years ago. Fair dealing Fair dealing, comparable to the United State's fair use, is a use of a work specifically recognised as not being a copyright violation. It is defined in terms of the type of work, the degree of copying, the purpose, the availability of commercial copies, and the commercial impact. Acceptable purposes vary by type of work, but the possibilities are: review or criticism research or study news-reporting lawyers' business Fair dealing is not the same as fair use, a term which is used to allow for reasonable personal use of works, e.g. media-shifting. Australian copyright law effectively allows fair use for computer software (see List of some possibly non-violating actions in Australia below). Moral rights In 2000, moral rights were recognised in Australian copyright legislation. Only individuals may exercise moral rights. List of moral rights in Australia Attribution the right to be clearly and reasonably prominently identified as the author, in any reasonable form the right to avoid false attribution, where the work as falsely presented as being another's work Integrity of authorship the right to not have the work treated in a derogatory manner (this is a right to protect the honour and reputation of the author) Automatic resale rights (royalty payments to the author on subsequent resales of the original and reproductions) are not covered by Australian legislation. Ownership of copyright Copyright is free and automatic upon creation of the work. A copyright notice (©) is not required on a work to gain copyright, but only the copyright owner is entitled to place a notice. It is useful in publishing the date of first publication and the owner. Government-owned copyright The Australian Commonwealth and State governments routinely own copyright in Australia. While this could be seen as being due to the concept of the Crown being traditionally paramount rather than the people, it is more influenced by the then British Commonwealth acting as a copyright policy-making body in the 1950s, which was the basis of the 1968 Copyright Act. The Australian government does not infringe copyright if its actions (or those of an authorised person) are for the government. A "relevant collecting society" may sample government copies and charge the government. The State governments follow different practices in regard to licensing, fees and waivers. The many aspects of Crown copyright are currently under formal review by the Australian Attorney-General's Copyright Law Review Committee, currently in the stage of accepting submissions. Composite copyright Material can contain multiple copyrights, that are not diminished by their combination or mingling. For example a television broadcast is copyright, as is the visual footage and soundtrack, as well as the screenplay, music and lyrics. Copyright Tribunal The Copyright Tribunal was established under the Copyright Act 1968, and has certain powers relating to royalties and licensing. It receives operational support from the Federal Court of Australia. Timeline of Australian copyright law 1911 - Copyright Act 1959 - The British Commonwealth Attorney-General directed Commonwealth nations to enact particular policies 1966 - Dr David Malangi Daymirringu's mortuary rites story bark painting was used by the Reserve Bank of Australia on the one dollar note without his permission. Compensation and credit were later supplied. 1968 - Copyright Act (replaced the 1911 Act) 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 - various amendments 1984 Amendment, defined computer program in the Copyright Act 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 - various amendments 1989 - Copyright Amendment Act 1989 (repealed) Levy introduced on blank tapes 1991, 1992 - various amendments 1992 - Autodesk Inc. v. Dyason (1992) 173 CLR 330 F.C. 92/001 The High Court of Australia supported that the reproduction of a lookup table in an EPROM in a third-party hardware lock was an infringment of a literary work. 1993 amendment 1993 - Australian Tape Manufacturers Association Ltd And Others v. The Commonwealth Of Australia (1993) 176 CLR 480 FC 93/004 The High Court struck down the 1989 levy as, essentially, badly located and unfair tax law and not a royalty. 1994 (3x) - various amendments 14 August 1997 - Telstra Corporation Limited v Australasian Performing Right Association Limited, 14 August 1997, FC 97/035, S 89/1996 The High Court of Australia found that music-on-hold transmitted by Telstra was a copyright infringement 1998 (3x), and 1999 (2x) - various amendments 2000 - Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000 - Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2001 - Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (Application of Criminal Code) Act 26 July, 2002 - Kabushiki Kaisha Sony Computer Entertainment v Stevens [2002] FCA 906 (26 July 2002) Federal Court decides that mod chips for Sony game consoles do not contravene copyright, due to representations from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) as amicus curiae. 2003 - Copyright Amendment (Parallel Importation) Act Made some provisions for parallel importing, affecting the 'grey market'. 2003 - Designs (Consequential Amendments) Act November, 2003 - Three Australian students received criminal convictions for copyright infringement, receiving a mix of suspended sentences, a fine, and community service. 7 February 2004 - KaZaA's Sharman Networks and Brilliant Digital Entertainment in Australia were raided for copyright violations using Anton Piller orders, along with the University of NSW, University of Queensland, Monash University, Telstra BigPond and three Sydney Internet service providers. The investigation was backed by Universal, EMI, BMG, Festival Mushroom Records, Sony and Warner Music. 8 February, 2004 - Australia and the United States agree the text for a bilateral free trade agreement (AUSFTA). The copyright-related parts of the Intellectual Property Chapter were: Longer duration of copyright Agreed standards for: copyright protection, copyright infringement, remedies and penalties WIPO Internet Treaties to be implemented by "entry into force" of the FTA Fast-tracking copyright owners engagement with Internet Service Providers and subscribers to deal with allegedly infringing copyright material on the Internet Tighter controls on circumventing technological protection of copyright material, with a possibility of public submissions Tougher on unauthorised satellite Pay-TV signal decoding 9 February, 2004 - Australia and the United States sign the FTA. August, 2004 - US FTA Implementation Act passes Senate, with amendments. References to documents and commentary. November 2004 - KaZaA case starts in Federal Court. December 2004 - Copyright Legislation Amendment Act passes, affecting parallel importing, temporary copies and Internet Service Providers' liability for taking down alleged infringing material. List of some possible copyright-infringing actions in Australia Home recording of broadcast radio/television content for private use whether for time-shifting or watching more than once. Home copying of legitmate recordings for private use whether for media-shifting or backup. Performing copyright material at a fund-raising school concert Playing a radio receiver or recorded music loudly in a public place Emailing documents from a government web-site that are available for public use Writing out a copy of a recipe verbatim List of some possibly non-violating actions in Australia Incidental filming or television broadcasting of an artistic work Making a film, drawing, photograph, etc of a sculpture or other artistic work in a public place Performing copyright material by teachers or students for the purpose of the students' education Performing material, receiving a broadcast, or using a recording for residents and their guests in the premises where they live or sleep. (Party!) Copying non-copy-protected legitimate software for any of these purposes: Backup Security-testing Inter-operability Correcting errors Buying an infringing copy of a video for private use (but you cannot possess it for a purpose that is detrimental to the copyright owner). References Australian Copyright Act 1968 as amended Australian Copyright Council Information Sheets Australian Attorney-General's Copyright Law Review Committee DFAT - AUSFTA Fact-sheet - Intellectual Property Australian Digitial Alliance - Monthly IP Wrap-Up - December 2002 Federal Court of Australia National Gallery of Australia - Dr David Malangi Daymirringu Federal Court - Kabushiki Kaisha Sony Computer Entertainment v Stevens [2002 FCA 906 (26 July 2002)] High Court - Australian Tape Manufacturers Association Ltd And Others v. The Commonwealth Of Australia (1993) 176 CLR 480 FC 93/004 High Court - Telstra Corporation Limited v Australasian Performing Right Association Limited, 14 August 1997, FC 97/035, S 89/1996 High Court - Autodesk Inc. v. Dyason (1992) 173 CLR 330 F.C. 92/001 Most Popular Articles: Music    Musical Instruments    Guitar    Classical Music    History    Music Definition    Country Music    Rock Music    Pop Music    Hip Hop    Rap    DJ    Video Games    Casino Games    Poker    Blackjack    Casinos    Real Estate    Loan    Auction    eBay    Marketing    Search Engine Optimization    File Sharing    MP3    Music Industry    Kazaa    Internet    Supermodel    Fashion    Fashion Designers    Erotica    Modeling    Clothing    Boots    Shoes    Diamond Engagement Rings    Diamond    Rugs    Gospel Music    Affiliate    E-Commerce    Radio This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_copyright_law