-- JonathanMo - 14 Sep 2015

Journalist's copyright

Section 35(4) of the CA provides for a division of ownership of copyright between the journalist authors of works and their employers. However, the journalist's copyright provisions only apply to the print media, where a work is made by the author under the terms of their employment by the proprietor of a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical. In such a case the author is the owner of the copyright only in so far as the copyright relates to reproduction of the work for inclusion in a book, and reproduction of the work in the form of a hard copy facsimile made from a paper edition of an issue of the newspaper etc, but not including reproduction by the proprietor for a purpose connected with the publication of the newspaper and so on.

There is a statement in Neville Jeffress Pidler that the journalist retains the right to 'control and license such things as publication in book form, photocopying and clipping services, inclusion of the work in certain database systems, filming and probably merchandising of cartoon characters, for example on badges and T-shirts'. This has now been limited, particularly in relation to electronic publishing. See De Garis v Neville Jeffress Pidler Pty Ltd [1990] FCA 352; (1990) 37 FCR 99; 95 ALR 625.