A person or a corporate entity can own intellectual property. Works that can carry copyright will take the form of original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, as well as sound recordings, cinematographic films, television and radio broadcasts and the like. Copyright is a creature of statute, meaning, that it is governed by the previsions of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).
Copyright creates two types of rights: economic rights and moral rights. Most copyright infringement disputes concern economic rights, that is, rights in respect of the use and commercial exploitation of a work where the person who owns that right takes action against a third party that purports to exercise rights over that work. Moral rights are a recent addition to the Australian law, and these are discussed further in our section on “Moral Rights”.
Section 31 of the Act describes the nature of copyright, stating that an author of the kind of work listed therein has the “exclusive right” to reproduce, publish, perform, communicate to the public, make an adaptation of the work, and do other things specific to certain types of other work of which he is the author or creator. Copyright does not subsist eternally, but remains for the duration of the life of the author or creator of the work and for a specified period after that person’s death. The period after the author’s or creator’s death will differ depending on the nature of the work.
Infringement of copyrighted material can take various forms. Under the Act an act of infringement will occur if a person does things that usurp interfere with the copyrighted material, imports the work for sale or hire, sells or hires the work, permits the work to be performed in a public place and the like. The Act does however provide various defences and exceptions to allegations of infringement, so that an act that would ordinarily be considered an infringement would not carry any legal liability on the alleged infringing party. The broad category of defences to copyright infringement include: Research; Study; Criticism; Review; Parody or Satire; Reporting (for example, news or current affairs).
If you require assistance with a copyright dispute and/or a copyright infringement, you should make an appointment to see one of our Intellectual Property Solicitors. Please contact us by telephone on (02) 9233 4048 or send an email to info@navado.com.au.
This webpage (and any material or wording appearing on this webpage) is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute any Legal Advice. It does not take into account your objectives, your instructions or all of the relevant facts and/or circumstances. Navado accepts no responsibility to any person who relies on the information provided on this website. We further refer you to our Disclaimer.
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If you require assistance with a Intellectual Property matter, you should make an appointment to see one of our Lawyers in one of the following locations:
- Sydney
