Copyright Law
Greyson Legal | Copyright Lawyers
At Greyson Legal, we are a boutique law firm dedicated to protecting creativity and innovation. With a strong focus on copyright law, we assist creators, businesses, and rights holders across the Gold Coast, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast in safeguarding their intellectual property.
Whether you're an artist, author, tech developer, or organisation managing digital content, we provide clear, practical legal advice on copyright ownership, licensing, infringement, moral rights, and commercialisation.​
What is Copyright?
Copyright provides a legal right in the copyright owner to prevent others from doing certain things such as copying and plagiarising all or a substantial part of the copyright owner’s works without permission from the copyright owner.
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Common examples of material or “works” that can be protected through copyright include: designs, music, art, books and films - to name a few.
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Unlike some other types of IP that require registration, copyright is automatic and exists the moment you express your idea in material form, such as, creating a painting.
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Copyright is an intangible right (as opposed to a physical or tangible property right). For example, while a painting has a physical or tangible element - you can see the painting and touch the painting, the copyright in the painting and the artist's rights associated with it are intangible forms of property.
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Copyright does not exist in an idea per se. Rather, copyright subsists in, and protects expressions of ideas. For example, just because you might come up with the idea that a house should contain four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a verandah, does not mean you have copyright in that idea. However, if an architect designed and drafted plans for a house with four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a verandah, the architect would own the copyright in the written plans incorporating the architect’s design.
What We Do
Greyson Legal | Copyright Lawyers are experienced in copyright law. Our copyright legal services include:
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copyright advice
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assist with copyright infringement
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drafting commercial agreements relating to ownership and use of copyright works
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copyright assignment agreements
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copyright licensing
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copyright in a franchising context
Client Testimonial
"Raymond was very honest, friendly. Pricing was vey much competitive than any other firms around Australia. Also Raymond did not charge anything extra for doing double the work not known in the beginning, where all other lawyers would charge easily for anything over than said. Found easy going man with easy to communicate. I would be doing all my future business with him from now. Thanks Raymond."
Binod Minali
Client Work Highlights
Copyright Assignment
Greyson Legal provided copyright advice and drafted a Copyright Assignment Agreement for a client on the Gold Coast, Queensland - documenting the transfer of IP rights from one client owned entity to another
Copyright Infringement
Greyson Legal provided our client on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland with copyright advice relating to an allegation of copyright infringement involving unauthorised use of photographs and images on a website
IP Licence Agreement
Greyson Legal prepared an IP Licence Agreement for a client on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland - entitling a Franchisor (with Licensor consent) to grant copyright and other IP rights to Franchisees
Movie Production IP Rights
Greyson Legal provided our client on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland with copyright advice, including review of an IP Deed of Assignment and liaising with Screen Australia regarding the movie, "Time & Place"
Copyright Advice
Greyson Legal provided a client on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland with copyright advice in relation to a Consultancy Agreement, whereby the consultant was engaged to undertake ancestry research for the principal
Copyright Infringement
Greyson Legal acted for a client based in Brisbane in relation to a copyright dispute involving the use of architect prepared building plans. We assisted the client with copyright advice and helped negotiate a resolution
Statutory Framework
In Australia, the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) provides the statutory framework for protection.
Under the Act, the works must be:
in a material form (eg. in writing, like a book or by way of a painting, etc); and
a new creation (ie. be original – not copied).
International Copyright and Treaties
Australia is a party to a number of international treaties dealing with copyright. For example, the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
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Australia also has bilateral treaties in relation to copyright with other countries, such as, New Zealand.
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Many countries grant minimum standards of copyright protection for Australian material (such as books and music) under these international treaties.
Term of Copyright
In Australia, copyright lasts for 70 years after the death of the creator, or 70 years from the end of the year the material was first made public.
Moral Rights
Under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), creators of certain works (such as literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, and films) are granted moral rights in addition to their economic rights. These rights exist independently of copyright ownership and cannot be sold or transferred, though they can be waived in writing.
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The three key moral rights are:
Right of Attribution
The creator has the right to be clearly and reasonably identified as the author of their work.
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Right Against False Attribution
Others must not falsely attribute authorship of the work to someone else.
Right of Integrity
The creator has the right to object to derogatory treatment of their work that could harm their reputation (e.g., distortion, mutilation, or other modification).
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Who Has Moral Rights?
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Individual creators (not companies) of original works.
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Rights apply to both Australian citizens and eligible foreign authors.
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Duration
Moral rights last for the same duration as copyright:
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Life of the author plus 70 years.
Employees and Copyright
Generally, the initial person to create the relevant work is the copyright owner. However, there are exceptions. For example, in an employer/employee relationship where the works created by the employee is part of their job, then the copyright in the works would normally be owned by the employer. Well drafted Employment Agreements will contain terms and conditions which deal with intellectual property rights in an employer-employee context.
Copyright Notice
A Copyright Notice is an internationally recognised identifier that a particular work is protected by copyright.
For example, a simple copyright notice might look like this:
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© XYZ Pty Ltd 2024
A copyright notice may be placed on the work, however, it is not necessary for copyright protection.
Copyright Infringement
Copyright can be infringed when a person uses all or a “substantial part” of someone else’s copyrighted material without permission.
A “substantial part” is not defined by the Copyright Act 1968. However, the courts consider that the quality of what is copied, not the quantity, is the deciding factor.
A substantial part is typically an essential feature, distinctive or a vital material part. The part does not necessarily have to be a large part to be “substantial” for the purposes of copyright law.
Accordingly, a reproduction of a very small amount of the work could be considered “substantial” if the part in question was critically important.
There are no strict guidelines about the quantity of material, or percentage of a work, which may be used without the copyright owner’s permission. Each situation needs to be assessed on its own facts and ultimately subject to interpretation by the Courts.
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Remedies for Copyright Infringement
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A copyright owner has the right to apply to Court:
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requesting an injunction;
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for damages – being a sum of money intended to compensate the copyright owner for money lost, or spent;
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on accounts of profits – to account of profit made by the infringer through selling infringing copies;
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for other orders,
in respect of infringement.
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In more extreme situations involving commercial dealings/piracy, infringement of copyright can amount to a criminal offence, with possible jail and/or penalties.
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Defences to allegations of Infringement
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Even though a substantial part of copyright material has been used (without permission), there may be a defence or an exception to the infringement provisions in the Copyright Act 1968, for instance:
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Research - a person may use a 'reasonable portion' of a literary, dramatic or musical work for research or study;
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News and reporting;
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Professional advice;
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Educational purposes;
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Artistic works in public places; and
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Other scenarios
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Also, just because person B has created a work that is very similar to person A’s work does not automatically mean there has been an infringement. For example, if the similarities are purely coincidence and person B has not copied person A’s work, then there is no copyright infringement. Accordingly, for copyright infringement to occur, there must be:
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similarity between the two works in question; and
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a causal link – that is, evidence that person B actually copied person A’s work.
