By Kristin Stammer and Michelle Momdjian
The High Court has upheld Ten's appeal regarding what is a 'television broadcast' for the purpose of determining copyright infringement under the Copyright Act. The decision means that a broadcast for copyright infringement purposes is more than a single image.
Background
Nine alleged that Ten had infringed its copyright in a television broadcast by replaying extracts (ranging from eight to 42 seconds in length) from various Nine programs on Ten's show, 'The Panel'.
At trial, a single judge of the Federal Court found in favour of Ten.
The Full Federal Court upheld Nine's appeal and found that copyright would be infringed whenever any single image contained within a television broadcast was reproduced, regardless of whether that image was a substantial part of the broadcast. This is in contrast to the level of protection given to other copyright works and other subject matter, the entirety or a substantial part of which need to be taken.
