For the most part, all of us try to be good law-abiding citizens. We don't go around looking for excuses to commit robbery or murder. But laws like that are obvious, common-sense measures, and it doesn't take much to follow them every day. Unfortunately, some legal requirements are a little trickier, and copyright law is a great example of that.
Many of us violate Australian copyright laws on a near-constant basis without even trying.
In Australia, copyright restrictions tend to be extremely strict. As a result, many of us violate them on a near-constant basis without even trying. This can wind up leading ordinary citizens to get into legal trouble. From the other side, for the companies that publish and otherwise manufacture copyrighted material, this can raise issues that threaten your profit potential and may motivate you to take legal action.
80 copyright violations a day?
It's not uncommon for copyright law in Australia to be violated, but few people quite understand the full extent of it. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, a report from the nation's Productivity Commission estimated that the typical citizen breaks the law 80 times a day.
Many of these violations are fairly harmless ones, such as copying an email when replying to it. Some are a little more iffy, such as reproducing content from a book that doesn't belong to you. If you don't know the specifics of the law, it's hard to know what sort of trouble you're getting into.
What sorts of protections exist?
One thing that's tricky about intellectual property law in Australia is that many different sorts of properties are protected. For example, according to IP Australia, copyrights apply to a wide range of works including art, literature, music, film, broadcasts and computer programs.
Beyond that, you also have to worry about trade secrets that are protected by businesses. Then there's the matter of more obscure elements being trade marked, such as circuit layouts by electronics companies. There's practically no limit to the different kinds of violations you might be committing if you're not careful.
Get help from a good lawyer
What if you're on the other end of this equation? If you're running a business and you're worried about your intellectual property being infringed upon, you might have to take action. That's when it pays to team up with capable copyright lawyers in Sydney.
Intellectual property is always one of your company's greatest assets. Fortunately, at Alder IP, we have the resources and the know-how to fight for yours. Contact us today if you fear you have a problem on your hands.