Notification under section 124 of the Copyright Regulations 2017, Number 2 of 2, 2023

Overview

The Copyright Act 1968, enacted by the Commonwealth Parliament, provides a legal framework for protecting intellectual property rights and balancing the interests of copyright owners and the public. The Act aims to protect the rights of creators by granting them exclusive control over the use of their creative works, while also allowing for certain uses of copyrighted material without the need for permission from the copyright owner, such as for the purposes of research or study. In this context, the Classification Branch of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications has issued a notice under section 183 of the Copyright Act 1968, informing copyright owners of the use of their material for community standards research. The notice details the use of short clips from various computer games for the purpose of researching community standards relating to classifiable elements and consumer advice. The Classification Branch intends to use the computer game clips for research on community standards, which is an important aspect of ensuring that the classification system for computer games in Australia remains relevant and effective. The use of copyrighted material in this context is intended to facilitate the research and provide valuable insights into community attitudes and perceptions, which can inform the development of classification guidelines and policies. By providing this notice to copyright owners, the Classification Branch is fulfilling its obligation under section 183(4) of the Copyright Act 1968 to inform copyright owners of the use of their material by the Commonwealth. This notice serves to promote transparency and accountability in the use of copyrighted material by the government, while also ensuring that the rights of copyright owners are protected.

Scope and Application

The Notification under section 124 of the Copyright Regulations 2017 pertains to the use of specific computer game clips by the Commonwealth of Australia, represented by the Classification Branch of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications. This act applies to the owners of the copyright material in the selected clips from various computer games, as detailed in the notification. The notice is issued in accordance with section 183(4) of the Copyright Act 1968, which allows the Commonwealth to use copyrighted material for the purposes of conducting research related to community standards and consumer advice. The scope of this legislation is confined to the specified clips from the listed computer games, with the purpose of facilitating research on community standards for classifiable elements and consumer advisory purposes. The notice ensures that the copyright holders are informed of the Commonwealth’s use of their material and the specific acts to which the notice relates.

Key Provisions

The main sections of the notification under section 124 of the Copyright Regulations 2017 concern the use of copyright material by the Commonwealth for the services of the Commonwealth under section 183 of the Copyright Act 1968. Specifically, this notification informs the copyright owners that the Commonwealth, represented by the Classification Branch of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications, will be using short clips from various computer games for community standards research (section 124). The purpose of this notice, as stipulated in section 183(4) of the Copyright Act 1968, is to inform the copyright holders about the specific acts of copyright use by the Commonwealth. The Classification Branch is undertaking this research to provide insights into community standards concerning classifiable elements and consumer advice. The notice lists various computer games along with the publishers, programmers, and durations of the clips being used (section 124). The games include "Agents of Mayhem," "Battleship," "Far Cry 4," "Fortnite," "Grand Theft Auto V," "Heavy Fire: Shattered Spear," "Life is Strange 2," "Mafia II Definitive Edition," "Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series - Episode Four- Who Needs You," "Minecraft," "Prinny – Can I really be the hero," "Return of the Obra Dinn," "Star Wars – the old republic," "We Happy Few," and "Wolfenstein the new order." The Act imposes specific obligations on the parties involved. The Classification Branch must ensure that they adhere to the requirements of section 183 of the Copyright Act 1968 when using the copyrighted material. This includes providing the necessary notification to the copyright owners as detailed in section 124 of the Copyright Regulations 2017. The copyright owners, upon receiving this notification, have the right to object to the use of their material if they believe it is not covered by the Act or if they disagree with the manner of its use. In terms of potential consequences, breaches of the provisions outlined in the Copyright Act 1968 and the Copyright Regulations 2017 could lead to both civil and criminal penalties. Civilly, copyright owners can seek remedies such as damages or an account of profits. Criminally, infringement of copyright can lead to substantial fines and imprisonment. The exact penalties depend on the nature and extent of the infringement, but under Australian law, significant fines and imprisonment terms can be imposed for serious copyright infringements.