otable change made by the Act was to expand the provisions concerning criminal copyright

infringement. The Act introduced strict liability offences for some copyright infringements, and a system
of "Infringement Notices" (on-the-spot fines). The stated aim of these provisions is to make copyright
easier to enforce, particularly against commercial infringers. After concerns from user groups and the
Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs,[10] many strict liability offences that
would have applied to non-commercial acts were removed from the final bill.

2016 amendment to include digital formats

See also: National edeposit

The Statute Law Revision Act (No. 1) 2016[11] amended the Copyright Act 1968 on 17 February 2016,
[12] by which the federal legal deposit provisions were extended to cover electronic publications of all
types.[8] and most states and territories are reviewing or amending existing legislation to extend to
digital publications as well.[9]

Under the legislation (section 195CD (1) (c) (i)), publishers are required to deposit digital publications
without Technological Protection Measures (TPM) or Digital Rights Management (DRM); that is, the
copy must contain all content and functionality, without protection measures such as password
protection or subscription paywalls.[13]

Protected subject matter, exclusive rights and infringement

Australian copyright law has been influenced significantly by the structure of English law, in addition to
the Berne Convention and other international copyright treaties. Thus there is an exhaustive set of types
of material protected, and an exhaustive set of exclusive rights.

In terms of the types of material, Australian law confers rights in works, also known as "Part III Works"
(after the Part of the Act dealing with this): namely, literary works, musical works, artistic works, and
dramatic works. It also confers rights in "other subject matter" (Part IV Subject Matter), which cover the
kinds of material protected in some countries by 'neighbouring rights': sound recordings, films,
broadcasts, and published editions. To be protected, material must fall into one of these exclusive
categories. The rights in Part IV subject matters are more limited, because infringement requires exact
copying of the actual subject matter (sound-alikes or remakes are not covered).

In terms of the exclusive rights, different kinds of subject matter have different rights. Owners of
copyright in works have rights to reproduce, publish (meaning publish for the first time), perform, and
adapt the work, and communicate it to the public (including broadcast, or communicate by making
available online). The rights of owners of copyright in artistic works are more limited (there is no right to
control public display of artistic works). Owners of copyright in other subject matter have the exclusive
right to make copies, to communicate them to the public, and to cause them to be heard/seen in public.

Infringement occurs where a person does an act falling within the copyright owner's exclusive rights,
without the authorisation of the copyright owner (assuming that one of the exceptions does not apply).

Copyright term