In the first stage of the copyright dispute between Men at Work and Larrikin Music about the flute riff in the famous Men at Work song 'Down Under', Justice Jacobson has held that Larrikin Music owns the copyright in the classic 1930s Australian tune 'Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree'. read more »
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Stephen Conroy has indicated that the government is considering the introduction of a three strikes policy to deter illegal downloaders. read more »
In a recent decision of the Federal Court of Australia, Pacific Technologies (Australia) Pty Ltd was unsuccessful in its claim to copyright in the words “Help-Help-Driver-in-Danger-Call-Police-Ph.000”. Therefore, the State of Victoria can safely continue using these Help Words on taxi cab driver duress alarms. read more »
Copyright holders who wish to enforce their copyright in the US take note — you may be required to register in order to receive statutory damages in the US. This revelation comes after the US District Court ruled that unregistered foreign works were not entitled to statutory damages under the US Copyright Act. read more »
The Federal Government has launched a paper outlining its views on the future of the digital economy. The paper is light on new initiatives, so what does it mean for the ICT industry in Australia? read more »
When Julie took home the MasterChef crown after defeating Poh one of the prizes was her own cookbook publishing deal.
So, what's to stop over enthused (and possibly-sleep deprived) MasterChef fans from copying Julie's recipes, setting up their own resturants and releasing identical cookbooks? read more »
The full Federal Court in Mont Adventure Equipment Pty Ltd v Phoenix Leisure Group Pty Ltd [2009] FCAFC 84 has held that a divisional patent application can rely on the filing date of its parent application and therefore claim the benefit of the 12 month grace period. Read our full alert here.
An ongoing dispute between the UK National Portrait Gallery (‘NPG’) and a US-based Wikipedia uploader raises the issue of whether photographs of out-of-term artistic works should attract copyright. read more »
The European Court of First instance has rejected Mars’ attempt to register the shape of its coconut chocolate bar, Bounty, as a trademark. read more »
The Productivity Commission has recommended the abolition of parallel importation restrictions on books in Australia, in a report released on Tuesday. This controversial recommendation has been heralded both as a victory for Australian book consumers and a death knell for Australian literature. read more »