Criminal Copyright Infringement

The Copyright Act 1968 provides that copyright infringement can result in criminal charges. The penalties are potentially significant, with maximum sentences in the vicinity of $60,000 and/or 5 years imprisonment.

There are a range of criminal copyright infringement offences. Some can be treated by federal prosecutors as “indictable” – these are the most serious. Some criminal copyright infringement offences can be dealt with summarily, which means the lower Courts can deal with them.

Some criminal copyright infringement offences can occur without their being any element of fault, intention or negligence.

These are known as strict liability offences.

If it is alleged there has been commercial scale infringement that is alleged to have significantly affected the “copyright owner,” these are the most serious. Other examples of offences are making, selling, hiring out, distributing, exhibiting, and/or importing material that infringes the rights of a copyright owner.

The law provides for numerous presumptions, which need to carefully explored in dealing with a alleged criminal copyright infringement offence.

There is often a reasonable explanation that forms the basis of a defence to a copyright infringement charge.