Copyright Act 1968

For the purposes of this Act, unless the contrary intention appears, copyright, in relation to a work, is the exclusive right:

in the case of a literary, dramatic or musical work, to do all or any of the following acts:

to reproduce the work in a material form;

to publish the work;

to perform the work in public;

to communicate the work to the public;

to make an adaptation of the work;

to do, in relation to a work that is an adaptation of the first‑mentioned work, any of the acts specified in relation to the first‑mentioned work in subparagraphs (i) to (iv), inclusive; and

in the case of an artistic work, to do all or any of the following acts:

to reproduce the work in a material form;

to publish the work;

to communicate the work to the public; and

in the case of a literary work (other than a computer program) or a musical or dramatic work, to enter into a commercial rental arrangement in respect of the work reproduced in a sound recording; and

in the case of a computer program, to enter into a commercial rental arrangement in respect of the program.

The generality of subparagraph (1)(a)(i) is not affected by subparagraph (1)(a)(vi).

Paragraph (1)(d) does not extend to entry into a commercial rental arrangement in respect of a machine or device in which a computer program is embodied if the program is not able to be copied in the course of the ordinary use of the machine or device.

The reference in subsection (3) to a device does not include a device of a kind ordinarily used to store computer programs (for example, a floppy disc, a device of the kind commonly known as a CD ROM, or an integrated circuit).

Paragraph (1)(d) does not extend to entry into a commercial rental arrangement if the computer program is not the essential object of the rental.

Paragraph (1)(c) does not extend to entry into a commercial rental arrangement if:

the copy of the sound recording concerned was purchased by a person (the record owner) before the commencement of Part 2 of the Copyright (World Trade Organization Amendments) Act 1994; and

the commercial rental arrangement is entered into in the ordinary course of a business conducted by the record owner; and

the record owner was conducting the same business, or another business that consisted of, or included, the making of commercial rental arrangements of the same kind, when the copy was purchased.

Paragraph (1)(d) does not extend to entry into a commercial rental arrangement in respect of a computer program if:

the copy of the computer program was purchased by a person (the program owner) before the commencement of Part 2 of the Copyright (World Trade Organization Amendments) Act 1994; and

the commercial rental arrangement is entered into in the ordinary course of a business conducted by the program owner; and

the program owner was conducting the same business, or another business that consisted of, or included, the making of commercial rental arrangements in respect of computer programs, when the copy was purchased.