Copyright
Copyright subsists in a large variety of valuable commercial documents: literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, as well as subject matter other than works, such as published editions and sound recordings.
Business plans, research papers and data, technical design drawings, architectural plans, buildings, graphs, tables, and photographs are just some examples of works in which copyright may subsist.
In Australia, copyright is not a registrable right, but it almost always subsists alongside other registrable rights, such as patents, designs and trade marks. For example, copyright may subsist in a trade mark logo alongside registered trade marks rights in that logo, and material in a research paper disclosed in patent specification may also constitute a literary work for the purposes of copyright protection.
As copyright subsists with other intellectual property rights, the identification of it is important not only for exploiting it commercially in its own right, but also as a strategic protection and enforcement tool in circumstances where the enforcement of other registered rights may not be possible or appropriate.
Our copyright expertise
FB Rice assists with issues of identification (subsistence), exploitation and enforcement of copyright as well as moral rights issues of authors/creators. We also advise in the complex area of the copyright-designs overlap regime. This is important if you are considering commercially exploiting a design, because doing so can significantly prejudice any related copyright subsisting in that design.
Michael Seifried will assist with any copyright related services.