Understanding+Copyright

COPYRIGHT The Copyright Act (1968) applies across Australia. As soon as a piece of creative expression is recorded in a **//material form//** (e.g. written down or recorded), it is protected by copyright. There is no copyright on an idea, but the law protects the ownership of dramatic, literary, musical and artistic works, and also films, sound recordings and broadcasts.

Copyright law is to make sure that creators are paid fairly for their work It is a tricky balancing act between the artist's right to reward for creativity and the right of the community to freely circulate ideas and information. The work doesn’t have to be particularly earth shattering. A station memo is protected in the same way as a novel and an advertising jingle the same as a large musical work, provided they are recorded in a **//material form//**.

Information about all aspects of copyright is available from the Copyright Council of Australia [|www.copyright.org.au]

music
For broadcasters, copyright questions arise mostly, but not only, about music recordings, and it is important to understand the risks of **//breach of copyright.//**

Copyright is recognised as property, and it can be bought, sold, given away or left in a will. The owner of copyright in a musical work has the rights to copy, publish, perform broadcast or communicate the work. They have the right to arrange or adapt the work as well as all the rights of the original. Copyright in a musical work is granted automatic protection provided:


 * the work is original, although it needn't derive from an original thought


 * the writer is a resident of any country which belongs to one of the two main international copyright conventions


 * the work is fixed in a material form e.g. a manuscript or a recording. There is no copyright protection of an idea.

Hard copy of a recording session is covered by copyright. Copyright exists in the recording of the work as well as in the work itself. To broadcast or copy that recording, two licences are required - one to reproduce the recording and one to reproduce the musical work itself. Music, lyrics and sound effects are separate copyrights also.

The Copyright Act allows broadcasters to copy a recording specifically for broadcast on that station. This is called 'ephemeral rights' and it is given provided:


 * the station has a licence (from a copyright collecting society like APRA) to broadcast the original recording


 * the station doesn't make copies for any other purpose (e.g. for a person who requests a copy of the program, or for individual station workers’ collections).

How long does copyright last? Once material is out of copyright it is known as being in the **//public domain//**. Don't presume something is out of copyright protection because the author is dead.
 * the copy is destroyed within 12 months

Copyright belongs to the creator of any music or lyrics from the time an idea is first fixed in “material form” (ie written down or recorded.) Since the Australia - US Free Trade Agreement in 2005 copyright expires seventy years from the year of the creator’s death. Until then the expiry date was 50 years from the death of the creator. Material in the public domain at January 2005 remains there.

It is worth noting that material made in Australia for broadcast on TV or radio is covered by copyright until 50 years from the year of first broadcast. Visit [|www.copyright.org.au] for more specific detail about **duration** of copyright. Copyright and the Internet The Copyright Act was amended in 2001 by the Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act which ensures that ANY material broadcast or delivered over the internet is covered by copyright unless there is “implied permission” to use it, for example in a media release distributed by email. Sometimes specific permission to use material is listed on the website. Do not assume that all material on a website has the permission of the original creator either. If you use material from a website which does not have copyright clearance then you may be in breach of copyright. FAIR DEALING Fair dealing allows you to use a “portion” of a work (usually 10% or less) for purposes of review or research (for example, photocopying a text book). This portion is not fixed, but a matter of legal judgement. It may be breach of copyright to give the impression that a work is your own if it is not. So be careful, you do not have to acknowledge the source, but it is a good idea to do so.

TYPES OF COPYRIGHT MUSICAL WORKS & SOUND RECORDINGS

Copyright, in relation to musical works, in fact consists of several rights which are granted to the creator of the work or sound recording. Any of these particular rights may be assigned to and administered by another party, other than the copyright owner, to license and collect on their behalf. Convention has given rise to different “types” of musical works and sound recordings. ** Unpublished Music ** ** Published Music ** ** Production Music ** ** Dramatico-Musical Works **
 * The copyright owner has not assigned the publishing right in the musical work to a music publisher and therefore administers this right themself
 * On a recording, the name of the copyright owner will appear in brackets after the title of the work.
 * Contact details for the creator may appear on the label.
 * The copyright owner has assigned the publishing right in the musical work to a music publisher
 * The Publishing Company’s name will appear in brackets after the creator’s name and the publisher’s logo will appear on the label.
 * The recording is available from a commercial music store.
 * Also known as Library or Mood music. It is music created specially for use as background music for promotions, announcements etc.
 * AMCOS owns the copyright in the vast majority of sound recordings and the underlying musical work.
 * Production Music is convenient. It saves the time of waiting for someone to compose and record a piece and there is no need to obtain permission from the creator(s) prior to dubbing.
 * Available from a Production Music Publisher.
 * Also known as Grand Right works. A Music Publisher administers most Dramatico-Musical work usages, unless the creator is unpublished.
 * Grand Right work means an opera, operetta, ballets, musical play, revue or pantomime, oratorios and large choral works, used __in its entirety__.
 * Always contact the publisher/copyright owner prior to ANY use.

You can’t use a commercially available song/music for station promos, IDs or to ‘theme’ your show – no matter how short the snippet is! This is a direct breach of copyright!
 * Note: **

Also – beware of reading articles directly from newspapers or online. If you read an article on air, you are breaching the copyright on the author’s work. Also, if the original article is found to be defamatory or incorrect, you too can be taken to court by broadcasting the ‘information’. Best is to re-write the article – by doing a bit of extra research, you can add your own flair and findings.


 * Contact Details: **


 * APRA – ** AUSTRALASIAN PERFORMING RIGHT ASSOCIATION -

Locked Bag 3665 ST LEONARDS NSW 2065 Website: www.apra.com.au Email bcast@apra.com.au Tel (02) 9935 7900


 * AMCOS ** - AUSTRALASIAN MECHANICAL COPYRIGHT OWNERS SOCIETY.

Rights administered by APRA. refer to contact details above.

PO Box Q20 Queen Victoria Building SYDNEY NSW 1230 Tel (02) 9267 7996
 * ARIA ** - AUSTRALIAN RECORD INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION


 * INDIVIDUAL MUSIC PUBLISHERS OR RECORD COMPANIES - ** Please refer to your phone directory or contact APRA or ARIA for details.

Suite 3/ 245 Chalmers Street REDFERN NSW 2006 Website: www.copyright.org.au Tel (02) 9318 1788
 * ACC ** - AUSTRALIAN COPYRIGHT COUNCIL (A non-profit Government-funded advisory service for copyright & related issues)