Copyright FAQs
Frequently Asked Copyright Questions
What is the difference between an author and a copyright owner?
An author is the person who creates a copyright work. A copyright owner is the person or company which owns the rights in a work or other subject-matter. In many instances the author of a work will be the owner of copyright; however, this need not be the case. An important exception is where copyright works are made by an employee during the course of their employment, in which case copyright vests with the employer. The rules relating to ownership of copyright may also be varied under an agreement; for example, an author may agree to assign his or her rights in a work to someone else.
How do you prove ownership of copyright if there is no system of registration?
In most cases the issue of ownership of copyright will not be in dispute. However, where there is a dispute which comes before a court, the court will take into account the evidence of the person who created the work and other persons who were involved in or who knew about the creation of the work. Statements of the ownership of copyright and the date of publication or manufacture appearing on the labelling or packaging of copies of copyright materials will be treated in court as accurate evidence of what they say (through evidential presumptions), unless the person disputing those issues can point to something raising a question about their accuracy. Documents recording the passing of copyright from the original owner to the person claiming present ownership will be similarly treated as evidence unless there is something to question the accuracy of that.
Are names and titles protected by copyright?
Copyright protects literary works including books, poems and newspaper articles. The Copyright Act does not expressly protect names and titles. In most cases dealing with this issue, the courts have held that names and titles are not protected on the basis that they are not substantial enough to constitute literary works and that they fail to satisfy the test of originality under copyright law.
Is there a general exception for home copying?
There are exceptions for home copying in specific circumstances. The main exceptions are for format-shifting of certain works and time-shifting of broadcasts. The format-shifting exception allows certain types of material that a person owns to be copied into a different format for private or domestic use. For example, a book can be scanned into an electronic form. The format-shifting exception also allows music from a legitimately purchased CD to be copied to an MP3 player, Xbox, computer or other device. The format-shifting exception does not cover computer games.
The time-shifting exception allows television or radio broadcasts to be recorded to be watched or listened to at a later time. The recording can only be used for private or domestic use and cannot be kept indefinitely.
Is permission required to play music in public?
One of the exclusive rights of the owner of copyright in a musical work is to perform that work in public, and in the case of sound recordings to cause the recordings to be heard in public. The playing of music from a radio or television broadcast in the workplace would generally be regarded as a public performance of the work. A licence from the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA www.apra.com.au), which is a copyright collecting society representing music copyright owners, should be obtained by the employer or business for this purpose. Where CDs are played in public, a licence from both APRA and the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA www.ppca.com.au) may be required.
Can I copy 10 per cent of a work without infringing copyright?
There is no general exception that allows 10 per cent of a work to be reproduced without infringing copyright. Where a part of a work is copied, the issue is whether a substantial part of that work has been reproduced and an infringement has occurred. However, there is a reasonable portion or 10 per cent rule which applies in relation to fair dealing copying for the purposes of research or study. A reasonable portion of most categories of works may be copied for research or study. A reasonable portion is 10 per cent of the pages of a work of more than 10 pages, or 10 per cent of the words of a work in electronic form or one chapter if the work is divided into chapters.
If I change a work can I avoid infringing copyright?
Changing a work does not necessarily avoid an infringement claim. If the resulting work includes a substantial part of the original work (which may be a small but important part) permission will be required from the copyright owner of the original work.