Module 1: Copyright Basics

You might be surprised by just how much copyright protects. For a creation to be protected by copyright it must be: 

1. in material form (recorded or written down)

2. an original expression

3. the result of creative effort by a human author.

Copyright does not protect ideas or information directly. Copyright will only protect the expressions of these in material form, either physically or virtually. Material form can be any kind of record, such as written down, typed or recorded onto a device.

Scenario:

Imagine if in 1994 Lee had a fantastic idea about a boy who finds out he is a wizard and goes to wizarding school and is confronted by an adversary linked to his past. Lee never wrote down that idea, but occasionally told his family about it. A few years later Lee’s cousin publishes Harry Potter. Lee would miss out on millions because you cannot copyright an idea. The next Rowling family BBQ would be tense though.

Original and human author 

Copyright protection only extends to creations that are original. Originality is generally easily satisfied in Australian law. For example, a playlist such as Triple J’s Hottest 100 may be covered by copyright due to the effort required to collect, organise and present the information.

An original work must also be created by a human author. You may think this would be a given, but there are few cases when this might not be satisfied. Such as when a monkey takes a selfie or if a book is written by artificial intelligence.