Assignment on Copyright Law

MOVIE COPYRIGHTS

INTRODUCTION
 Copyright law gives monopoly
to the owner of an original work
and does not allow the
unauthorized use of the
copyrighted work.
 Copyright law applies to movie
and other works of art
 This protects the movies from
piracy. Unauthorized use
without the prior consent of the
owner.

NEED TO PROTECT FILMS
 Once an original work is
produced and it is reduced
to tangible medium, it
warrants protection.
 In cases of movies, it is
protected the moment it is
filmed and turned into a
movie (Foster 2018).
 Once it is filmed, it needs
protection from third
parties.

SUBJECT MATTER
 Movie copyright law subsists in the
movies that have already been made
 The laws apply to prevent theft of
content and unlicensed public
performance.
 The film maker has the right to sue
anyone who infringes the copyright
 There is no specific need of a
copyright symbol or a notice.

..continued
 Once the movie is in the public
domain, the infringer cannot claim
that he had no knowledge about the
movie.
 If there is a notice regarding the
movie in place, the infringer cannot
make an argument that the act was
unintentional (Padgett 2017).

Definition
 Motion pictures under section
101 of the Federal Copyright Act
is defined as a series of related
images that impart an impression
of motion when it is shown in
succession (Larrson et al 2014).
 The owner shall have the sole
authority to perform, display,
copy and reproduce the movie
(Gilbarg and Trudinger 2016).
 Both silent and non silent movies
are included in copyright
protection

Laws in Australia
 In cases of Australia, Copyright is
provdied by the Australian Copyright
Act 1968
 The movie maker can formally
register the work with the Copyright
Office and that will help in protecting
the copyrighted work. (Zhang 2016)
 The copyright owner has an
exclusive right which is a negative
right.

Legislation
 Australian copyright law protects the
artistic works of the creators under
Australian Law.
 These laws apply domestically across
the borders of Australia.
 The copyright is movies subsist will
50 years and after that the
copyrights comes in the public
domain.
 These laws are federal in nature and

Showing movies in Public
 Any movie that is meant to be shown
at home cannot be shown publicly.
 To show a movie in public, there
needs to be the public performance
rights to show the movie in public.
 To show the movie in public, the
movie needs to be hired from a
distributor.

 The permission to show the movie in
public has to be taken from the
producer of the film.
 The producer shall give a letter of
permission, pursuant to which the
movie can be shown in public
 By allowing the movie non-theatrical
performance, it becomes easier to
distribute the movie.

 Every movie that is shown in
the public has to be approved
by the Australian Government
Classification Board.
 The Board also classifies the
movies before allowing them
to be viewed by the public.
 The Board reviews the movie
and then permits it to be
made public.

Who are governed by the
Law
 Script writer
 Director
 Producer
 Actor
 Editor
 Actors
 composer

Rights of the owner
 He can make a copy of the movie
 Has the right to make the public
watch his movie
 Can talk about the movie on social
media
can communicate the movie to the
public and conduct interviews to
know reviews (Butler and Rodrick
2016).
 Has exclusive rights against

Who own the copyright in the film
 The person who makes the movie,
like the director.
 The person who finances the movie-
the producer
 The person making all the
arrangements for the movie.

Importance of copyright protection
 In the age of privacy, it is very
important to protect the rights.
 Copyright shall protect the work from
getting used for financial gains by
others without the permission of the
owner
 Once a work gets protected, it helps
the owner to get money. This is a
very good way to earn money.

Moral rights of an owner
 It is the moral right of the owner to
be acknowledged for the hard work
and creativity he has shown in the
movie.
 If he is the owner of the rights, he
shall not allow anyone else to be
credited
 Use legal tools to claim damages if
an infringer harms the reputation of
the director/copyright owner.

What does the law govern
 Downloading of movies from the internet is a
violation of copyright laws.
 Transferring the movie without the consent
of the owner is a breach of copyright laws.
 The legal compliance requirement applies to
schools, day care facilities, colleges,
universities.
 This compliance applies to parks and
recreational departments too from where no
movies can be borrowed without permission.

 Movie studios and agents are the ones who
have the right to license sites and also
allow exhibition of copyrighted movies.
(Suz0r, 2014)
 Movies from libraries or from the personal
collection of people should not be used for
public viewing if it has not been licensed
(Barbosa 2016).
 Downloading movies without the consent of
the owner is against the principles of the
Copyright Law

 Under Australian Law, it is illegal to
screen in public any DVD or any
movie disk without the permission of
the copyright holder.
 Public place shall include any place
where people meet, talk and does
not include any residential area.
 In case someone is willing to screen
the movie, he has to take the
permission from the Australian

 The only products to be viewed are
the ones which have been purchased
legally.
 The first thing to do to screen a
movie in Australia is that the person
should get the permission to screen
the movie.
 Once the permission is given to
screen the film, then the person can
start publicizing the movie.

Punishment
 Counterfeiting and piracy
constitute serious
criminal offence under
the Copyright Act, 1968.
 There has to be proof
that the accused has
been importing,
possessing or selling
these copyrighted works.
 Is offering for sale the
infringed products.

Reference
 Larsson, S., Wnukowska‐Mtonga, S., Svensson,
M. and De Kaminski, M., 2014. Parallel Norms:
File‐Sharing and Contemporary Copyright
Development in Australia. The Journal of World
Intellectual Property, 17(1-2), pp.1-15.
 Zhang, S., 2016, March. Digital copyright:
Beyond a legal outlook. In Intellectual Property
Forum: journal of the Intellectual and Industrial
Property Society of Australia and New
Zealand (No. 104, p. 32). Intellectual and
Industrial Property Society of Australia and New
Zealand Inc.

 Suzor, N.P., 2017. Explainer: What is
‘fair dealing’and when can you copy
without permission?. The
Conversation.
 Barbosa, R.G., 2016. US Copyright
Law, Technology and Litigation. A
National Approach and its
International Consequences. Anuario
Mexicano de Derecho
Internacional, 16, pp.87-129.

 Butler, D.A. and Rodrick, S., 2015. Australian
media law. Thomson Reuters (Professional)
Australia Limited.
 Gilbarg, D. and Trudinger, N.S., 2015. Elliptic
partial differential equations of second order.
springer.
 Padgett, L., Wright, R., Bossu, C. and Whitehead,
D., 2017. Enabling open education in Australia by
supporting open licensing decisions. In 2017
ODLAA Conference: Expanding Horizons in Open
& Distance Learning (p. 1).