Jicola | 
06 4th, 2009| 
Do you own and run your own website or blog in Australia? Then you might want to have a look at a few fact sheets by the Australian Copyright Council.
Did you know that any original content that you write on your website is automatically protected by 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.
Source: Copyright Basics. More information about how you can get copyright can be found here.
Did you know copyrighted material lasts for 70 years after the contributors death?
For most material, copyright lasts for 70 years after the end of the year of the creator’s death, or 70 years from the end of the year the material was first made public.
The source and more information on how long copyright lasts can be found here.
Did you know that if you run a website such as a forum with user generate content (UGC) you do not necessarily own that content.
Under the Information Sheet G057v08, contributors own the content that they post on your website, unless contributors agree to give their permission before or after they have posted content on your website.
If you do wish to acquire copyright in material users post to your site, you will need to have contributors assign
copyright to you by “signing” a written agreement to that effect. In this context, typing their name may
constitute a “signature”, but you may need legal advice on this.
If you do not own the rights to the user generate content, you will not be entitled to use their material offline and grant website visitors permission to only view and listen to the content.
If you want to own the UGC, you may be able to contact them after they have made this content (if possible) and make sure you have terms and conditions stating who will own the content.
Did you know that if someone uploaded copyright material to your website such as someone else’s photo or music, you may be liable if legal action is taken.
In some cases, UGC may infringe copyright. For example, a contributor may post someone else’s photo, or upload
a video that uses someone else’s music in its soundtrack. This may often be as a result of ignorance on the part
of the contributor but, whether or not you are aware of the infringing material, you are likely to liable if there is
an action for copyright infringement.
To protect yourself from this, make sure you set out a binding agreement with contributors that will indemnify you from any infringing behaviour. Make sure you get a lawyer to draft your terms. Make sure you remind contributors not to post copyrighted content without the owners consent and that you will remove any posts that violate this rule. Also moderate the content so you can remove potential copyright material before it becomes a problem. If a problem does arise, remove the content immediately.
The source and more information about user generated content can be found on The Australian Copyright Council Website.
Do you know when you can use copyrighted material?
- The copyright has expired
- The content is not protected by copyright
- You are not use a ‘substantial part’ of the full content
- In special exceptions
Source: Information Sheet G057v08.
Did you know that direct linking to third-party website content may be illegal?
If you direct link to someone else’s content, it may be illegal because you are bypassing that websites homepage.
More information can be found from Information Sheet G057v08.
For more information on copyright in Australia, please visit the Australian Copyright Council by visiting: http://www.copyright.org.au. For more Information Sheets, visit http://www.copyright.org.au/publications/infosheets.htm
*Disclaimer: This post is intended for general information only and a summary of notes from the Australian Copyright Council website. For legal advice, please see qualified person. Information from this post (including quotes) has been gathered from http://www.copyright.org.au. If any incorrect information has been interpreted, please post in the comments.
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