Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd v Cooper

Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd, the applicant in this matter, brought an action against several defendants for copyright infringement through the use of various websites. The applicants sought declarations of infringement, as well as injunctive and other relief. The primary defendant, Cooper, was found to be involved in the facilitation of the downloading of copyrighted material, with evidence pointing to specific actions taken to encourage and enable these infringements. The court found that Cooper’s actions went beyond the mere provision of a facility and involved significant encouragement and structuring of the website to facilitate the infringements.

The legal issues before the court included whether Cooper's actions were protected under section 112E of the Act, which provides a defence for internet service providers under certain conditions, and whether the defence could be applied retroactively given the legislative amendments introduced by the US Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act 2004. The applicants argued that the amendments were substantive rather than procedural and thus should not be applied retrospectively unless expressly stated. The court examined the wording and intent behind the legislative changes, considering established legal principles regarding the retrospective application of statutes.

In its reasoning, the court determined that Cooper's actions did not fall under the protection of section 112E, as his involvement was more than merely providing a facility. The court held that Cooper actively encouraged and facilitated the infringements, thus breaching copyright law. Regarding the legislative amendments, the court found that the changes introduced by the FTA Act were substantive and should not be applied retrospectively without clear legislative intent to do so. Consequently, the court concluded that Cooper was liable for the copyright infringements and that further investigation was necessary to determine the exact number of infringements.

In light of these findings, the court ordered that appropriate Short Minutes of Orders be filed and served within fourteen days to formalise the declarations and provide for costs.