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ARTICLE · 14 SEPTEMBER 2010

Making Headlines: Fairfax Loses Copyright Battle

Gadens Lawyers
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The Federal Court of Australia has decided that newspaper headlines are not protected by copyright.

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Vinod Kumar
Vinod Kumar
Kimberly Statham
Kimberly Statham

The Federal Court of Australia has decided that newspaper headlines are not protected by copyright.

The Court dismissed a copyright claim by Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd (Fairfax) against Reed International Books Australia Pty Ltd (Reed) for copying and distributing newspaper headlines.  The Court held that headlines are not substantial enough to qualify for copyright protection.

The result follows the decision in IceTV v Nine (click here to read our previous article), in which the High Court of Australia held that the reproduction of program times and title information from Nine's electronic program guide did not constitute copyright infringement.

Background

Fairfax is the publisher of the Australian Financial Review (AFR).

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