Sunday, May 27, 2012

Landmark copyright case - iiNet

The iiNet case is finally over with the High Court upholding the Full Federal Court decision that iiNet is not liable for the copyright infringing actions of its customers.

Background:

The film studios and the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) claimed that iiNet was in breach of section 86 of the Copyright Act by authorising their users of their internet services to communicate infringing material to the public online.  Apparently authorisation was said to occur when iiNet failed to suspend or terminate its customers' accounts, which would block their access to its services, upon notice by the AFACT of copyright infringing conduct.

iiNet responded that it could not be inferred that it was authorising the actions of its customers, by acting to suspend following receipt of the AFACT notices. The trial and Federal Court judgments were conflicting so AFACT and the film studios appealed to the High Court for resolution...

Most people think Intellectual Property is only Patents.  IP is patents, trade marks, copyright, know-how...   Copyright is important and valuable across all disciplines.

Feel free to contact UWS Innovation with any questions your might have.You can also email us: ip@usw.edu.au


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