Australian Copyright Law - Timeline of Australian Copyright Law

Timeline of Australian Copyright Law

• 1869 - First colonial copyright statute is passed in Victoria. South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia enact similar laws in 1878, 1879 and 1895 respectively.
• 1901 - Federation of Australia. The Federal Parliament, pursuant to section 51(xviii) of the Australian Constitution, is granted the power to make laws with respect to "Copyrights, patents of inventions and designs, and trade marks."
• 1905 - Copyright Act 1905 (Cth) is passed.
• 1912 - Copyright Act 1912 (Cth) is passed. Pursuant to section 8 of that Act, the entire Copyright Act 1911 (Imp), passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, is enacted into the law of Australia.
• 1958 - In Copyright Owners Reproduction Society v E.M.I. (Australia) the High Court of Australia finds that the new UK copyright statute, the Copyright Act 1956, does not apply in Australia and the 1911 Imperial Act remains law.
• 1959 - The Committee to Consider What Alterations Are Desirable in the Copyright Law of the Commonwealth (Spicer Committee) delivers its final report. It recommends that the majority of provisions appearing in the Copyright Act 1956 (UK) should be adopted). However, another eight years passes before a new Australian statute is introduced.
• 1966 - Dr David Malangi Daymirringu's mortuary rites story bark painting was used by the Reserve Bank of Australia on the one dollar note without his permission. Compensation and credit were later supplied.
• 1968 - Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) is enacted. It repealed the 1912 and the accompanying 1911 statutes.
• 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 - various amendments
• 1984 Amendment, defined computer program in the Copyright Act
• 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 - various amendments
• 1989 - Copyright Amendment Act 1989 (repealed)
  • Levy introduced on blank tapes
• 1991, 1992 - various amendments
• 1992 - Autodesk Inc. v. Dyason (1992) 173 CLR 330 F.C. 92/001
  • The High Court of Australia supported that the reproduction of a lookup table in an EPROM in a third-party hardware lock was an infringement of a literary work.
• 1993 amendment
• 1993 - Australian Tape Manufacturers Association Ltd And Others v. The Commonwealth Of Australia (1993) 176 CLR 480 FC 93/004
  • The High Court struck down the 1989 levy as, essentially, badly located and unfair tax law and not a royalty.
• 1994 (3x) - various amendments
• 14 August 1997 - Telstra Corporation Limited v Australasian Performing Right Association Limited, 14 August 1997, FC 97/035, S 89/1996
  • The High Court of Australia found that music-on-hold transmitted by Telstra was a copyright infringement
• 1998 (3x), and 1999 (2x) - various amendments
• 2000 - Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act
• 2000 - Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act
• 2001 - Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (Application of Criminal Code) Act
• 26 July 2002 - Kabushiki Kaisha Sony Computer Entertainment v Stevens FCA 906 (26 July 2002)
  • Federal Court decides that mod chips for Sony game consoles do not contravene copyright, due to representations from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) as amicus curiae.
• 2003 - Copyright Amendment (Parallel Importation) Act
  • Made some provisions for parallel importing, affecting the 'grey market'.
• 2003 - Designs (Consequential Amendments) Act
• November 2003 - Three Australian students received criminal convictions for copyright infringement, receiving a mix of suspended sentences, a fine, and community service.
• 7 February 2004 - KaZaA's Sharman Networks and Brilliant Digital Entertainment in Australia were raided for copyright violations using Anton Piller orders, along with the University of NSW, University of Queensland, Monash University, Telstra BigPond and three Sydney Internet service providers. The investigation was backed by Universal, EMI, BMG, Festival Mushroom Records, Sony and Warner Music.
• 8 February 2004 - Australia and the United States agree the text for a bilateral free trade agreement (AUSFTA). The copyright-related parts of the Intellectual Property Chapter were:
  • Longer duration of copyright
  • Agreed standards for: copyright protection, copyright infringement, remedies and penalties
  • WIPO Internet Treaties to be implemented by "entry into force" of the FTA
  • Fast-tracking copyright owners engagement with Internet Service Providers and subscribers to deal with allegedly infringing copyright material on the Internet
  • Tighter controls on circumventing technological protection of copyright material, with a possibility of public submissions
  • Tougher on unauthorised satellite Pay-TV signal decoding
• 9 February 2004 - Australia and the United States sign the FTA.
• August 2004 - US FTA Implementation Act passes Senate, with amendments. References to documents and commentary.
• November 2004 - KaZaA case starts in Federal Court.
• December 2004 - Copyright Legislation Amendment Act passes, affecting parallel importing, temporary copies and Internet Service Providers' liability for taking down alleged infringing material.
• 1 January 2005 - The U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) officially comes into force.
• September 2005 - Federal Court of Australia finds Kazaa liable for copyright infringement and hands down judgment in favour of Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd.
• December 2006 - Copyright Amendment Act 2006 (Cth) is passed. Effective January 2007, the Act (a) strengthens criminal infringement provisions, (b) adds new exceptions including for parody or satire, and private copying, (c) strengthens anti-circumvention law to make it more like the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (as required by the Australia-US FTA), and (d) makes some changes to provisions affecting libraries and educational institutions.