What is Copyright?

Copyright Law is designed to provide a balance between rewarding creators for their works, thus encouraging further creativity, and ensuring reasonable access by users to those works. That is why the Copyright Act 1968 includes sections setting out the exclusive rights of copyright owners, as well as sections which specify the rights of users - the fair dealing provisions.

Copyright at Work

In Australia, copyright protection is granted automatically to creators of works by the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cmwlth).  Provided a work is original, and has been reduced to a material form, such as print on paper, or magnetic code on a computer disk, audio or video tape, there are no requirements to register the work in any way.

The originality requirement asks only that the author of the work has used some skill, and has not copied the ingenuity and labour of another in making the work; not that the thought or idea embodied in the work be novel or new.  Copyright protects only the expression of the idea, not its originality.

Until a work is "reduced to material form" there is nothing for copyright to protect.  An off-the-cuff speech for example, would not attract copyright protection, whilst a written speech would be protected as a literary work.

In Australia, there is no requirement to place the copyright symbol or any copyright notice on a work, but this is a requirementin some foreign jurisdictions, and it serves as a reminder that the work is protected by copyright.  It's inclusion also enables users to locate the copyright owner when they need permission to copy the work, so it is a wise move to include the copyright symbol, your name, and the year on your works; eg. Amanda Smith 1995.

In the same way, your website should carry a copyright notice.  While this is not required by Australian law, some countries require a copyright notice to be on a work before they will provide protection.

If you are concerned about the protection of your copyright, you could make sure that you show your work to a reliable witness at the time of its creation, and ask that person to sign and date the work, or to make a diary note of their sighting.

Material Protected by Copyright

Under The Copyright Act 1968 there are four categories of works, and four categories of subject matter other than works. (This is how they are referred to in the Copyright Act.) The list below is not exhaustive, but should serve as a general guide to the kinds of items which are protected by copyright. It is not unusual to find that there are several copyrights involved in one item; for instance, the protection afforded a book could involve the following: 

• the text of each chapter (one or more literary works);

• the overall compilation of the book (literary work);

• the typography and layout (published edition);

• drawings and illustrations (artistic works);

• photographs (artistic works).

The four categories of works, with some examples, are:

Literary Works

poems, books (fiction and non-fiction), articles, short stories, rules to games, instruction manuals, song lyrics, catalogues, compilations, computer programmes, websites, and all other forms of writing (except trivial expressions such as titles or slogans - these may, however, be protected as trade marks)

Dramatic Works

plays, film scripts, screenplays, scenarios, and other works intended to be performed, such as choreographic works.

Musical Works

popular as well as ‘serious' scores and other combinations of melody and/or harmony. (note that songs include two types of works, literary and musical)

Artistic Works

paintings, sculptures, drawings, sketches, engineering drawings, patterns, photographs, engravings, cartoons, dress patterns, plans, maps, flow charts, diagrams, technical drawings etc, and works of artistic craftsmanship such  as ceramics, wood carvings, etc.

(Multimedia Works will be classed by the individual underlying works which go to make up the whole programme.)

The four categories of subject matter other than works, with some examples, are:

Cinematographic Films

motion pictures, including documentaries, feature and animated films, television programs, videotapes, videocassettes, and other fixed or recorded sequences of visual images.

Sound Recordings

vinyl, acetate and compact discs, audiotapes and other fixed or recorded sounds, e.g. taped interviews

Broadcasts

radio, television and certain satellite broadcasts, that is, the signals of sounds and/or images transmitted by the broadcaster

Published Editions of Works

the publisher's layout, design and typesetting.

Copyright Collecting Agencies

Previously copyright owners have represented themselves with claims to be compensated for the use of their works.  Claims were made by inspecting institutional copying records, which were onerous to create and maintain.  Dissatisfaction on both sides with this approach led to legislation which nominated the collecting societies as the licensors of copyright material used by universities.  Agreements between the university and collecting agencies offer opportunities for extensive use of copyright material for education purposes.