CopyrightGrace, Ienash, Nick

Copyright - International Instruments of copyright

World Intellectual Property Organisation and EU Convention on Cybercrime 2001

EU Cyber crime convention contains provisions on criminal offences relating to copyright

Most countries rely on civil provisions for digital copyright breaches

Copyright Law - Australia Copyright valid from time to creation

until 70 years after death of creator The Copyright Act 1968 and the

Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000 protect copyright in Australia and online

Copyright created to ensure that creators can be rewarded for their efforts and have control over how their work is used

Copyright Law – Australia (Continued) A copyright owner can licence

individuals to copy their work for specific purposes

Pieces of work’s content can always be used for the purpose of research, criticism, satire, news, current affairs, and professional advice. For these reasons, a fair dealing (10%) of the total content can be used

Copyright Act – Australia (Continued Again) There are technical exemptions for

situations where information is only copied temporarily (e.g. to run computer software)

Peer-to-peer networking & File Sharing Biggest copyright issue in cyberspace is the

sharing of music, films and games The typical licence for copyright excludes the

widespread distribution of the information Some files don’t have any copyright protection While literature and music are protected, it can

be argued that most of the perceived copyright breaches are just the exchange of ideas and information (which copyright does not protect)

CASE STUDY!!! In Jan 2008, Swedish prosecutors filed

charges against four men for facilitating and promoting copyright infringement through their website, ‘the pirate bay’

Prosecutors gave evidence of the revenue that was made through advertising on sites, using this to argue that their purposes were commercial in nature

CASE STUDY!!! In defence, the main reply to the

charges was that the site is only a searching engine

Argued that merely providing an information service did not make them responsible for the information being transferred, unless they had a close association with individual users.

CASE STUDY!!! In April 2009, the court found that the

operators has collective responsibility, as they were responsible for the site, while knowing that some of the files pointed to copyright materials.

Therefore, the operators of the site were sentenced for one year in prison and pay for damages amounting to $3.5 million

CASE STUDY!!! Though owners have maintained the

site running, during Appeal, the Swedish court has temporarily shut down the site on several occasions by threatening the interest service providers hosting ‘The Pirate Bay’