Copyright Infringement Notice Scheme

On 1 January 2007, a range of copyright enforcement measures commenced as a result of the Copyright Amendment Act 2006. These include the creation of a tiered system of copyright criminal offences incorporating indictable, summary and strict liability offences.

The strict liability offences do not contain fault elements and attract maximum penalties of 60 penalty units ($6,600).

These offences are underpinned by a copyright infringement notice scheme provided for under the Copyright Regulations 1969. An infringement notice penalty is 12 penalty units ($1,320).

The introduction to this scheme is designed to deal specifically with lower-level copyright crime such as first time offenders, street stall or market operators.

Under this scheme, an offender issued with an infringement notice by a law enforcement officer will have the option of paying a fine or risking the possibility of prosecution in court. In addition to paying a fine, some offences will also require the offender to forfeit copyright material and/or related devices in order to avoid prosecution.

The Attorney-General’s Department has developed draft guidelines for the administration of the infringement notice scheme. They are now publicly available for consideration and comment at the following link:

• Draft Copyright Infringement Notice Scheme Guidelines – Word 397KB
• Draft Copyright Infringement Notice Scheme Guidelines – PDF 239KB

All comments on the draft guidelines should be provided to copyrightlawbranch@ag.gov.au by the closing date of 5 October 2007. Queries about the guidelines should be directed to Mr Sam Ahlin at sam.ahlin@ag.gov.au or on (02) 6250 6095.