We provide a free online legal advice service. This service is limited and we ask that before submitting your enquiry you check whether an information sheet helps answer your questions. Click here to browse our information sheets. This service will be closed for the holiday period from Friday 20th December 2019, and will re-open Monday 6th January 2020.

To be eligible for our legal advice service you must meet our guidelines below. If your enquiry is outside of our guidelines or is answered in an information sheet you will be directed back to this information. If your enquiry is outside our eligibility guidelines, see the section below Where Else Can I Get Assistance.

Who Is Eligible To Access Our Legal Advice Service?

We provide legal advice to the following:

CREATORS (e.g. composers, writers, artists, film makers & photographers)
ARTS & CULTURAL ORGANISATIONS (staff involved in producing, assisting or supporting the creative arts)

 

AFFILIATED MEMBER ORGANISATIONS (staff & members affiliated with the Copyright Council)
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS (staff of educational institutions, except state schools in QLD, who have been referred to in-house lawyers)

 

LIBRARIES & ARCHIVES
GALLERIES & MUSEUMS

 

In addition to falling within one of the above categories, please note that our legal advice service is generally directed to individuals and organisations:

  • that lack the financial means to obtain privately funded legal services; or
  • to whom the statutory licence schemes in the Copyright Act are available; or
  • whose cases are expected to raise issues of public interest; or
  • whose cases are of general concern to disadvantaged groups in the community.

 We DO NOT advise people in commercial organisations outside the arts.

Type of Advice We Don't Provide

As a small, non-profit organisation, there are limits to our legal advice service. We don't for example, provide the following services:

  • representing you in court
  • drafting letters on your behalf
  • negotiating for you
  • amending documents
  • advising on documents you have drafted yourself

Response Time

Our response time is between 5 - 10 working days. While every attempt is made to provide advice within this period, there may occasionally be delays during periods of heavy demand for our legal advice service.

Contact Our Legal Advice Service

To access our Legal Advice Service, click here. You will be prompted to log in. If you do not already have an account on our website you will be able to create an account.

Our advice is provided on a confidential basis and is intended for the private use of the client.

While the client will have legal professional privilege over any advice given, copyright in the advice belongs to the Australian Copyright Council. Permission is therefore required to reproduce, publish or communicate it to third parties, other than as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968.

Where Else Can I Get Assistance?

If you're not eligible for assistance, or if we don’t provide the kind of service you are looking for, here are some other options you can consider.

Where? Who is eligible? What can I get?
Law societies in each state
Anyone Referral to lawyers in private practice who specialise in intellectual property
Arts Law Centre of Australia
Creators and arts organisations Legal advice and referral service
Smartcopying Those working in schools and TAFEs Click Contact Us on the Smartcopying website to identify your local copyright manager
University copyright officers Those working in universities Copyright advice
Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) copyright officers Members of ALIA Copyright advice
 IP Australia  Anyone  Trademarks, Design registration, Patents
Trans-Tasman IP Attorneys Board  Anyone  IP Attorneys