Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) - Level 1

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An Act relating to copyright and the protection of certain performances.

The Copyright Act 1968 establishes copyright as a type of legal protection for people who express ideas and information in certain forms. The most common forms are writing, visual images, music and moving images. Copyright protects the form or way an idea or information is expressed, not the idea or information itself. There is no system of registration for copyright protection in Australia, as copyright protection is free and automatic. A work is protected automatically from the time it is first written down or recorded in some way, provided it has resulted from its creator's skill and effort and is not simply copied from another work. Copyright protections are protected in most other countries and copyright works from most other countries are protected in Australia. Certain educational institutions and institutions assisting people with a visual or intellectual disability may make multiple copies of works for educational or other specified purposes, or may make special versions of works under statutory licences. Such statutory licences give the copyright owner a right to be paid equitable remuneration through an approved collecting society. Copying may also be done without infringement of copyright when done by libraries and archives for students.