Infringement of copyright

Under the Copyright Act 1968 (the Act), copyright owners have certain rights. Reproducing copyright material without the copyright owner’s permission will usually be an infringement of copyright. Dealing with part of a work may also infringe copyright if that part is important to the work – it need not be a proportionally large part.

Copyright may also be infringed by authorising or facilitating the infringing act of another party; importing articles containing infringing copyright material; and by selling infringing articles.

Exceptions to infringement

Under the Act there are exceptions to infringement that allow some uses of copyright material without permission. These exceptions can be split into two categories, free of charge copying, and copying that requires payment.

The major areas of free of charge copying are:

Fair dealing for the purpose of research or study:
allows a student or researcher to copy protected material. Copying 10% or one chapter of a published literary, dramatic or musical work of 10 pages or more, and one article from a periodical, is deemed to be fair,

Fair dealing for the purpose of criticism or review:
allows reviewers to make a fair dealing of copyright material provided they acknowledge the work; or

Library provisions:
generally non-profit libraries and archives have the right to:

• reproduce or communicate copyright work for a client's research or study;
• reproduce or communicate copyright work for inclusion in the collection of another library; and
• reproduce and communicate original material for the purpose of preservation.

Libraries are also able to replace copyright works lost from their collection as long as the work is not available within a reasonable period of time at an ordinary commercial price.

Copying that requires payment

Statutory licences allow educational institutions, institutions assisting people with disabilities, and Federal, State and Territory governments to copy protected material for defined purposes, without the need to obtain the copyright owner’s permission. CAL has been declared by the Attorney General and the Copyright Tribunal as the official collecting society to administer these licences in respect of works.

Of course these aren’t the only times where copyright material may be used by other parties. Rightsholders are free to directly negotiate an agreement that will allow their material to be used. Many rightsholders also choose to use a copyright collection agency to ensure their rights are enforced. CAL, for example, also operates voluntary licences with a range of organisations and corporations allowing them to use copyright material.