Useful copyright resources
The Law
Exceptions that allow copying without permission
Collecting societies, & other ways to find copyright owners
Organisations with expertise in copyright and other intellectual property rights
The law
For the current version of the Copyright Act 1968 (Commonwealth), go to: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Series/C2004A073788
The current version of the Copyright Act includes all changes made by amending legislation, such as the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000, the Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000, the relevant parts of the US Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act 2004, and the Copyright Amendment Act 2006. There is generally no need to look at any of these amending acts.
For an overview of the Copyright Act see the Attorney-General's Department's Copyright page.
Please see the Australian Copyright Council's Moral Rights Information Sheet (G043) for a moral rights summary.
Exceptions that allow copying without permission
The Australian Copyright Council is an excellent website that provides a range of information sheets.
Collecting societies, & other ways to find copyright owners
Through CAL (Copyright Agency Limited), you can pay for a licence to copy certain books, articles, essays and artwork.
Through Viscopy, you can pay for a licence to copy the works of some Australian artists, craftspeople and photographers.
Through APRA and AMCOS (Australasian Performing Right Association and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society), you can pay for a licence to copy, perform or broadcast certain music.
Through Screenrights, educational institutions and government agencies can pay for a licence to copy or broadcast certain film, television and radio productions.
Through PPCA (Phonographic performance Company of Australia), you can pay for a licence to broadcast some recorded music or perform it in public.
Through the Australian Publishers Association web site, you can find links to the home pages for around 185 Australian publishers.
On the Publishers Global web site, you can find publishers listed by country. It has links to publishers in around 55 countries, including links to around 420 Australian publishers.
The FOB (Firms Out of Business) database lists some of the international publishing firms, magazines, literary agencies and similar organisations that are no longer in existence.
The Australian Society of Authors has a list of Australian authors with links to their individual web pages.
The WATCH database is a useful source for contact details of international writers.
The Australian Copyright Council provides an information sheet on ways to contact government agencies to get permission to copy their material.
Organisations with expertise in copyright and other intellectual property rights
- Australian Copyright Council
- Attorney General's Department
- Australian Digital Alliance
- Australian Libraries Copyright Committee (ALCC)
- Centre for Media and Communications Law, University of Melbourne
- Arts Law Centre of Australia
- IP Australia
- Creative Commons Australia
- Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia
- Resale Royalty Rights
Page last updated: Wednesday 28 December 2011
