Australia does not have a registration system for copyright protection. Copyright protection applies automatically when material is created. Works do not need to be published to be afforded copyright protection. The copyright notice (in Australia this is the © symbol) can be displayed on the works, but this is not required to afford protection.
The Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) as amended sets out the law as to copyright in Australia and is interpreted by the Court creating case law.
Copyright does not protect ideas, concepts, information, styles or techniques.
Copyright does protect: literary works, artistic works, dramatic works, musical works, cinematograph films, sound recordings, broadcasts and published editions, and computer programs.
Artistic works include: a painting, sculpture, drawing, diagram, map, chart or plan, engraving or photograph, a building or a model of a building, whether the work is of artistic quality or not.
Dramatic works include: choreography, screenplays, plays and mime pieces.
A musical work is the actual notated music, as distinct from the lyrics or recording of the music.
Cinematography films includes the visual images and sounds in a film, video, DVD.
Literary, artistic, dramatic or musical works are protected if the work is original. To be original a work must not be a mere copy. A certain amount of skill and labour must have been employed to create the work. The work must have been created by a human being.
Generally, the person who creates a work is the owner of copyright in the work. Exceptions to this rule include where ownership rights have been assigned to another person or entity, or where works are created by employees as part of their employment, or created under government control and direction.
Copyright owners can license the right to use the copyright material to other people or entities.
Inserting a copy notice (the © symbol), the year of creation and the owner’s name is recommended to ensure people are put on notice that copyright applies to the work, but as noted above this is not essential to provide copyright protection.
Usually, copyright protection lasts for the creator’s life plus 70 years (since 2005).
Use of copyright material (where a substantial part viewed objectively and in terms of quality not quantity is copied) without the permission of the copyright owner may constitute an infringement of copyright (unless limited exceptions apply). What amounts to a breach of copyright is dependent upon the facts and circumstances in each case.
Creators of works also have moral rights in their work regardless of whether they own the copyright in that work. Moral rights include the right to be attributed as to the creator of the work and the right not to have their work used in a derogatory fashion.
Copyright is a form of intellectual property, but is different to trade marks, designs and patents. It is also different to confidential information which may afford protection to ideas and information.
The Australian Copyright Council has a wealth of accessible information, including industry specific information sheets and booklets – www.copyright.org.au.
For legal assistance please contact Fleur Craig at Armour-Craig Legal on (03) 5636 4986 or fleur@armourcraiglegal.com.au.