Copyright Enforcement Review

Overview

Copyright, as a type of property founded on a person's creative skill and labour, protects the original form or way an idea or information is expressed (but not the idea or information itself). Some common forms of copyright material include:

• writing
• movies and TV shows
• visual art and images
• music
• video games.

Copyright underpins the vibrancy and value of Australia’s creative industries and supports innovation across many other sectors of the economy. A robust and effective copyright system encourages the creation of new creative material, while also allowing reasonable uses of this material without permission in certain public interest circumstances.

Copyright infringement may harm Australia’s creative ecosystem and broader economy by reducing or diverting income that creators of, and investors in, original material rely on for their financial sustainability. Copyright owners need to be able to take reasonable steps to protect and enforce their rights as part of a well-functioning copyright system. At the same time, it is important that consumers, service providers and other businesses are clear about when they can use copyright materials and in what circumstances.

As the ways copyright material is produced and distributed evolve, we need to ensure that our system continues to protect and advance the legitimate economic and social interests of all parties.

The Australian Government believes this is the right time to review whether existing copyright enforcement mechanisms remain effective and proportionate.

Why we are consulting

We are consulting with members of the public to understand current and emerging copyright enforcement priorities and challenges.

We are seeking your views on whether Australia’s copyright enforcement regime remains relevant, effective and proportionate, and whether existing enforcement mechanisms could be supplemented or strengthened without imposing unreasonable administrative or economic burdens.

We will use your responses to evaluate the effectiveness existing copyright enforcement mechanisms and provide advice to the Australian Government.

The government invites written submissions and/or survey responses that address the questions and themes in the Issues Paper below.

• Copyright Enforcement Review Issues Paper [PDF 630KB]
• Copyright Enforcement Review Issues Paper [DOCX 500KB]

Who we want to hear from

While the consultation is open to all members of the public, we would particularly like to hear from those who are dealing with copyright infringement and enforcement issues in practice, or have been a party to copyright enforcement processes.

This may include, but is not limited to:

• creators, creative industries organisations, and other owners of copyright
• individual, business and institutional users of copyright material
• online service providers and other intermediaries.