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ARTICLE · 21 NOVEMBER 2012

Watching The Footy From The Cloud

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Optus' footy war over its 'TV Now' service ended when its application for leave to appeal to the High Court was refused.

AustraliaIntellectual Property
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OPTUS TV NOW – FEDERAL COURT COPYRIGHT JUDGMENT STANDS

IN BRIEF

Optus' footy wars over its 'TV Now' service have been brought to an end with the refusal of its application seeking leave to appeal to the High Court. Tim Hemingway and Kelly Marshall look at what this means for providers of cloud-based services in Australia and where it leaves the 'time-shifting' exception in Australian copyright law.

BACKGROUND

TV in the cloud: In our previous article " Footy Wars Continue: Optus' Win Reversed By Full Federal Court" we looked at the full bench of the Federal Court of Australia which overturned the Court's first instance decision relating to Optus' cloud based 'TV Now' service. The TV Now service made digital recordings (in numerous formats to suit a range of devices) of broadcasts of football matches which customers could access and view at a later time. Australian football codes complained that this was a breach of copyright. Optus' defence relied on the

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