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Copyright in Pictures

Copyright

Copyright is the exclusive right to:

  • Reproduce a work in material form
  • Publish a work (exhibition is not considered to be a form of publication but an electronic publication is)
  • Include a work in a television program

Ownership of Copyright

In Australia, the artist or photographer initially owns the copyright in their work with the following exceptions:

  • A photograph taken by a photographer as part of their terms of their employment is owned by their employer. (Except in the case where the employer is the proprietor of a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical, in which case the photographer will retain the right to control inclusion of the photograph in a book or as part of a hard copy news clipping service).
  • For a photograph taken prior to 30 July 1998, the copyright in photograph which was commissioned by a person other than the photographer belongs to that person. For a photograph taken after 30 July 1998, the copyright in a photograph commissioned by a person other than the photographer belongs to that person only if it was taken for a 'private or domestic purpose' (such as a family portrait or a wedding photograph).

Duration of copyright

The Australian Copyright Act defines a variety of materials with different copyright protection. Those that pertain to the National Library's Pictorial Collection are as follows:

  • Life of author plus 50 years
    • Engravings and other prints published during the author's lifetime
    • Artistic works other than photographs and engravings and other prints

  • 50 years from first publication
    • Engravings and other prints first published after the author's death or in which the Crown owns copyright;
    • Photographs taken after 1 May 1969. An unpublished photograph holds copyright in perpetuity

  • 50 years from making
    • Photographs taken before 1 May 1969
    • Artistic works (other than engravings and other prints) in which the Crown owns copyright

  • Period of protection in country of origin
    • Materials not made or published in Australia

Further Information

For more information, please communicate directly with the Pictures Branch:

Pictures Branch
National Library of Australia
Parkes Place
CANBERRA ACT 2600
AUSTRALIA

Telephone: 61 + 2 6262 1370
Facsimile: 61 + 2 6273 5763
E-mail: pictorial@nla.gov.au

You may also want to contact copyright collecting agencies such as VISCOPY, the Visual Arts Collecting Society, or visit the World Wide Web sites of the Copyright Agency Limited and the Australian Copyright Council for more information on copyright.

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