Decision on Larrikin Records vs. EMI
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Copyright basics
Introductory information about copyright.
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| What is copyright? | Copyright
is a type of legal protection for people who produce things like writing, images, music and films. It is a legal right to prevent others from doing certain things (such as copying and making available online) without permission. | |
| Where copyright law comes from | Copyright law comes from the Copyright Act and from court decisions. | |
| Copyright and intellectual property | “Intellectual property” is a general term covering a number of areas of
law. These include copyright, trade marks and patents. | |
| What copyright applies to | Things that can be protected by copyright include writing, visual images, music, computer programs and films. | |
| No copyright in ideas | Copyright protects the form or way an idea or information is expressed, not the idea or information itself | |
| How you get copyright | There
is no system of registration for copyright protection in Australia. You do not need to publish your work, to put a copyright notice on it, or to do anything else to be covered by copyright — the protection is free and automatic. There are no forms to fill in, and there are no fees to be paid. You do not have to send your work to us or to anyone else. A work is protected automatically from the time it is first written down or recorded in some way, provided it has resulted from its creator’s skill and effort and is not simply copied from another work. For example, as soon as a poem is written, or a song is recorded, it is protected. Australian copyright works are protected in most other countries, and copyright works from most other countries are protected in Australia. | |
| The copyright notice | You do not need to put a "copyright notice" on your work for it to be protected in Australia. You may choose to put a copyright notice on your work to remind people that it is protected by copyright. You can put the notice on your work yourself; there is no formal procedure. The notice is: © (or "Copyright") + copyright owner’s name + year of first publication —for example: © Gus O’Donnell 1968. | |
| How long copyright lasts | In most cases, copyright expires after a period of time, and the material enters the "public domain". | |
| Who owns copyright | Who owns copyright when something is first created will depend on a number of factors including what type of material, and whether the material was made under an agreement. An owner of copyright can transfer the copyright, or parts of it, to others. | |
| Assigning & licensing rights | Copyright owners can “assign” (transfer) or license their
rights. | |
| Infringement of copyright | A person infringes copyright by making a "copyright use" (e.g. copying, broadcasting, making available on a website) without the copyright owner's permission. The person may have a defence to infringement if a special exception applies. | |
| Moral rights & performers' rights | There are legal obligations to attribute creators of works, and to refrain from doing anything with a work that damages the designer’s reputation or is offensive to the designer. There are also legal obligations to get the performer's consent to make certain uses of an audio recording. |