copyright

Pick The Right Licence For Your Photos With This Flowchart

When you share your photos or other creative materials on websites like Flickr, you have several licensing options. This flowchart can help you pick the right licence under Creative Commons.


Did The Optus-NRL Legal Case Ruin The Cloud For Everyone?

Last year’s court decision that ruled Optus’ TV Now catchup service effectively illegal clearly dealt a blow to any plans to develop similar cloud-based TV recording services. But did it also cast a broader shadow over the prospects for other cloud-based developers?


Format Shifting 101: What Are Your Legal Rights In Australia?

Can you copy your own DVDs for personal use? What about books, CDs, or computer games? It’s one of those fields in which there’s a lot of confusion and misinformation based on old law, overseas law or a misunderstanding of the law. Here’s what you actually need to know.


Beware The False Privacy Notice Being Posted On Facebook

A privacy notice is finding its way onto many Facebook profiles, as it supposedly offers protection from Facebook’s claim to the copyright of users’ individual posts. It’s unofficial, doesn’t actually do anything, and you should not post it if it crosses your path.


Yes, You Really Can Trademark A Colour

The distinctive purple tone used on Cadbury chocolate wrappers (Pantone 2685C purple) isn’t just instantly recognisable — it’s a legally-protected trademark. That trademark was upheld this week in a UK legal battle between Cadbury and rival Nestle, leaving the Kraft-owned Cadbury with the exclusive right to use the shade on chocolate bars and drinks.


Memo To Kim Williams: No-One Needs To Pay For BitTorrent Software

News Limited CEO Kim Williams gave a speech to the Australian International Movie Convention this week discussing the rising prevalence of piracy online. I’ve got a lot of sympathy for the argument that blithely downloading content through BitTorrent is a hugely damaging activity for content creators, but there’s a crucial element of Williams’ speech that’s deeply deceptive and fundamentally ignorant.


Why Google’s Piracy Crackdown On Torrent Searches Isn’t Such A Big Deal

Google announced over the weekend that it would change the way it displays search results, giving less prominence to sites which are repeatedly the subject of complaints by copyright holders. While that produced some anguished howls from the internet community, claims the move represents censorship or the death of torrenting are fundamentally wrong-headed.


Optus TV Now Service Infringes Copyright, Rules Federal Court

The Federal Court has upheld an appeal against an earlier ruling that found Optus’ TV Now service did not infringe copyright by allowing users to record and view AFL and NRL matches for viewing at a later time.


How You’re Breaking The Law Every Day (And What You Can Do About It)

You share music, rip DVDs, make Hitler whine about your first world problems and much more in the course of your regular online activities — and more often than not, you do these things without giving a thought to the fact that you’re actually breaking the law. Here’s a look at how you’re inevitably circumventing copyright law, and what you can do to protect yourself.


Music Piracy Forum Shopping: Aussie Sued By Koreans In California

If you’re a copyright owner and you believe someone is illegally distributing your material, what should you do? It’s not a question that lends itself to an easy answer, but choosing to sue the alleged offender somewhere they don’t live doesn’t look too good.


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