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Copyright protected material

Protecting works and other material

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The Copyright Act sets out two broad categories of materials protected by copyright: “works” and “subject matter other than works”.

Works

Copyright material

Example
Literary works

Example

Books; letters; articles in journals, newspapers and magazines; poems; assignments; theses; song lyrics; computer programs; tables or compilations expressed in words, figures or symbols
Dramatic works

Example

Plays; film scripts; choreography
Musical works

Example

Notated music (ie the music itself, not the lyrics or recording)
Artistic works

Example

Photos; paintings; drawings; maps; sculptures; engravings

Subject matter other than works

Copyright material

Example
Sound recordings

Example

Recordings of spoken words or music (This is protected separately from any copyright material contained in the recordings (eg scripts and music))
Films

Example

The aggregate of the visual images and sounds in DVDs; videos; TV programs; TV advertisements; short films; full length theatrical films (This is protected separately from any copyright material recorded in that material (eg scripts and music))
Broadcasts

Example

TV and radio broadcasts (This is protected separately from the copyright in music, scripts and other material that is broadcast)
Published editions

Example

Typographical arrangements of published works (This is protected separately from the copyright material reproduced in the published edition (eg novels and photos))

For a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work to be protected by copyright, it must also be an “original work” in the sense that it originates from the author (ie it is not a mere copy of another work) and the author has used the requisite degree of labour, skill and effort to create the work.

This information is provided as general information only. It provides a basic introduction to copyright and is not intended to be comprehensive.

Reviewed December 2017