Easing of Australian Copyright Laws

In a landmark case, Ice TV have won the right to copy TV Guides and show them in a different format. After 3 years of battling with an Australian Television company, a recent appeal was won on a 6-0 verdict. This now puts doubt on the copyrights that Sensis, the publisher of Australian Yellow Pages, who have spent many millions of dollars defending their position. A case in 2002, brought by Telstra, the parent of Sensis, bankrupted a company that had reversed engineered a CD of White Pages. The case became known as "Desktop Marketing" and it was reported that three of the judges that ruled in favour of Ice TV, want the Desktop Marketing ruling re visited. You can Read more here but before you do you should read below first.

Here is a brief summary of the 2002 case that Telstra won:

(a) Desktop Marketing Systems Pty Ltd v Telstra Corporation Ltd [2002] FCAFC 112

In a decision delivered on 15 May 2002, the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia upheld Justice Finkelstein's earlier ruling that information databases such as telephone directories can be the subject of copyright protection.

Desktop Marketing Systems had copied data from the Telstra White Pages and Yellow Pages Telephone Directories without Telstra's permission. Desktop had used the data, and headings similar to those used by Telstra to organise the information, to develop CD-ROM software products that enable users to conduct different searches through the data.

The Full Court unanimously upheld Finkelstein J's decision, finding that 'to deny copyright protection would permit Desktop to appropriate the benefit of Telstra's substantial labour and expense in performing those activities' (Lindgren J at paragraph 170). Justice Lindgren was not persuaded by the contrary decision of the US Supreme Court in Feist Publications Inc v Rural Telephone Services 499 US 340 (1991) (paragraph 217). He examined English and Australian authorities in detail and found that '...the labour and expense of collecting, verifying, recording and assembling (albeit routinely) data to be compiled...' is capable of itself '...establishing origination and therefore originality...', and may give rise to copyright protection (paragraph 160 at point 10).

The decision confirms the lower threshold of originality required for the protection of databases under Australian copyright law. Desktop Marketing Systems has sought leave to appeal to the High Court.

In America, the state of Oregon, want to bring in an "Opt in" Yellow Pages register: Read

So, there is a growing under current to change the way people regard Yellow Pages from two fronts. The Carbon/Green front and the Internet.

Visit http://twitter.com/ecoyp for more thoughts.

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