Copyright in health records

PRIMARY HEALTH CARE V COMMISSIONER OF TAXATION

A recent judgment by the Federal Court clarifies ownership of copyright in health records.

Generally, physical health records and the copyright in those records are owned by the medical practitioner or the practice that created the record. However, the judgement by the Federal Court of Australia in Primary Health Care v Commissioner of Taxation [2010] FCA 419 found that in some cases there is no copyright in health records at all.

Whether there will be copyright in a health record will, from a practical perspective, depend on:

• how much the health professional writes;
• the format of what is written (for example, if the health professional followed a standard template such as a health summary, copyright is less likely to subsist); and