Nationwide News Pty Ltd & Ors v Copyright Agency Ltd [1996] FCA 257

Nationwide News Pty Ltd & Ors v Copyright Agency Ltd [1996] FCA 257

The acts of photocopying articles by educational institutions did not amount to infringement of published edition copyright, as the content copied did not constitute a substantial part of the relevant published edition as a whole, assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively, nor was there evidence that CAL authorised or sanctioned infringement of published edition copyright; the evidence did not establish authorship or copyright ownership in the AAP article; CAL was not shown to have acted outside its authority in distributing funds as challenged.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
18 April 1996
Procedural Posture
Appeal / Judgment on Appeal From a Single Judge of the Federal Court of Australia
Outcome
Appeal dismissed with costs
Legal Topics
['copyright' 'copyright Infringement' 'published Edition Copyright' 'educational Institutions' 'collecting Societies' 'statutory Licensing Scheme' 'substantial Part Test']
['intellectual Property'] ['copyright' 'copyright Infringement' 'published Edition Copyright' 'educational Institutions' 'collecting Societies' 'statutory Licensing Scheme' 'substantial Part Test']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Appeal / Judgment on Appeal From a Single Judge of the Federal Court of Australia

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether copying by educational institutions of newspaper articles infringed published edition copyright under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth)' "Whether a 'substantial part' of the edition was copied in a manner to amount to infringement" 'Test to be applied for infringement of published edition copyright' 'Whether collecting society (CAL) authorised or sanctioned infringements by educational institutions' 'Whether trial judge was correct in finding appellants failed to establish authorship of a newspaper article (literary work copyright)' 'Whether CAL was authorised to make gifts from funds collected under a non-statutory licensing scheme']

Ratio Decidendi

The acts of photocopying articles by educational institutions did not amount to infringement of published edition copyright, as the content copied did not constitute a substantial part of the relevant published edition as a whole, assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively, nor was there evidence that CAL authorised or sanctioned infringement of published edition copyright; the evidence did not establish authorship or copyright ownership in the AAP article; CAL was not shown to have acted outside its authority in distributing funds as challenged.

Court Disposition

Appeal dismissed with costs

Orders

  • ['The appeal be dismissed, with costs.']