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Commonwealth act
This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
What this law does, mechanically
Replaces the prior federal copyright statute and imports the United Kingdom's Copyright Act 1911 into Australian federal law, with specified local changes. The Copyright Act 1905 is repealed (s4) and the British Act of 1911 is made part of Commonwealth law as from 1 July 1912, subject to the Act's modifications (s8–9).
Keeps and continues the existing federal Copyright Office, registers and officers (s5–7, 22–25). The Office is run by a Registrar who keeps three registers and has powers to receive and certify entries (ss23, 27, 33–35).
Makes registration optional but ties particular summary remedies and enforcement powers to registered ownership (s26). The Act prescribes how to register copyrights and assignments, what must be delivered for registration, and who may correct or seek court rectification of the registers (ss28–31, 36–38).
Creates summary criminal offences and civil remedies for infringement: activities such as making, selling, distributing, exhibiting for trade, or importing infringing copies are offences punishable by fines (and, for repeat offences, imprisonment) and courts may order seizure or destruction of infringing copies or plates (ss14, 16, 17, 18). Search and seizure on the application of a registered owner or their agent is provided for (s16). Penalties in summary proceedings are payable to the copyright owner as compensation in proceedings brought by or on behalf of the owner; otherwise fines go to the Commonwealth (s18).
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Direct links to the current provisions in Copyright Act 1912.
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View on official registerSourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
Gives the Governor-General powers to make regulations about detention and forfeiture of imported infringing copies and to make Orders extending protection to works first published in other parts of the King’s Dominions, subject to specified conditions (s10, ss11–12). The Governor-General also may make broader regulations for the functioning of the Office and matters the Act permits to be prescribed (s42).
Requires publishers of new Commonwealth-published books to supply a copy to the Parliamentary Librarian at their own expense within one month of publication (s40). It preserves State library delivery requirements already in State law (s41).
Who is affected
Authors and owners of copyright: receive the statutory bundle of exclusive rights (as defined in the incorporated British Act) and civil and summary enforcement options (Schedule, Part I; ss6, 14).
Publishers and printers: face deposit obligations to the Registrar (for registration) and to the Parliamentary Librarian (s38, s40), and possible criminal or civil liability if they reproduce or deal in infringing copies (s14, Schedule).
Importers and customs officials: owners can notify Customs to prevent importation of copies made abroad that would infringe if made in the Commonwealth; Customs may detain such imports subject to regulations and information requirements (s10).
The Copyright Office / Registrar and executive government: the Registrar administers registration and recordkeeping (ss23–25, 27–38); the Governor-General (in Council) makes Orders and regulations that affect the territorial/reciprocal scope of protection and enforcement procedures (ss9, 11–12, 42).
Users, booksellers, theatres and places of entertainment: performing rights and the right to authorize public performance are recognized and may be enforced or restricted by owners; theatre operators who permit infringing performances for private profit may be guilty of an offence (s15, s17).
Why it matters (official purpose-claims and how they operate)
The Act brings Commonwealth copyright law into line with the United Kingdom's consolidated 1911 law, subject to local adaptations (s8–9). The stated mechanism is direct adoption plus specified textual modifications (s9).
It creates a federal administrative and registration system (ss22–38) intended to support certainty about ownership, provide prima facie evidence of registered particulars (s33), and enable summary enforcement tied to registration (s26, s14–18).
Testing those stated purposes against costs, incentives and trade-offs (source-grounded)
Compliance costs and paperwork: registration is optional but not costless. To register a book, an applicant must deliver a finished copy to the Registrar and the Office retains it; publishers must deliver a copy to the Parliamentary Librarian at their expense (ss38, 40). There are also fees for certified copies and for inspection (ss34–35). Those are explicit, recurring compliance costs for rights-holders and publishers.
Concentrated enforcement benefits vs. diffuse compliance costs: registration confers access to special summary remedies (s26). That gives registered owners concentrated enforcement advantages (ss14–18). The costs of deposit and the risk of summary penalties are borne more diffusely by publishers, importers and exhibitors (ss38, 40; s10; s15–17).
Administrative discretion and implementation risk: the Act vests broad regulatory and Order-making powers in the Governor-General (ss10(3), 11–12, 42). Those powers determine import detention procedures, reciprocal international protection, and other practical rules. Effective operation therefore depends on executive regulations and Orders in Council being made and implemented.
Enforcement incentives and cost-shifting: customs detention of imported copies depends on a written notice from the copyright owner to the Comptroller-General and on the owner providing information; regulations may require the informant to reimburse Customs for expenses arising from detention initiated on the informant’s information (s10(1), s10(2), s10(5)). This shifts some enforcement cost risk back to private owners who trigger enforcement at the border.
Interaction with State law and procedures: some arbitration and procedural references in the adopted British Act are read as references to State or Territory law (s9(b)), and rights in some areas (for example, State library delivery laws) are preserved (s6, s41). The Act therefore relies on a mix of federal and State processes for some enforcement or procedural matters.
Effects on market participants and contract freedom: the Act preserves specific ownership-transfer rules (Schedule, s5) including limits on the term of assignments by authors (reversionary interest after 25 years), which mechanically constrains the duration of rights that an author can transfer and therefore affects how contracts over copyright can be structured.
Compliance burden, who pays, and who decides (brief)
Who pays: publishers pay for delivering required copies to the Registrar and Parliamentary Librarian (ss38, 40). Informants can be required to reimburse Customs for detention-related expenses (s10(5)). Fees for certified register extracts and inspection are payable (ss34–35). Fines are payable either to the copyright owner (when proceedings are initiated by/for the owner) or to the Commonwealth (s18).
Who decides: the Registrar manages registration records and certificates (ss23, 33). The Governor-General (in Council) makes Orders and regulations affecting scope and procedure (ss11–12, 42). Courts (State Supreme Courts and High Court on appeal) may rectify registers and decide disputes about entries (s37). Justices of the Peace issue search warrants on evidence for seizures (s16).
Behaviour changes the law encourages or requires (mechanism not judgment)
Owners and prospective enforcers are incentivised to register if they want access to the Act’s special summary remedies (s26).
Publishers must deliver copies to the Parliamentary Library and, to obtain registration, must deliver a finished copy to the Registrar; failing to comply can attract fines (ss38, 40).
Owners can use customs notice procedures to seek border enforcement against imported copies made overseas that would infringe if made in the Commonwealth; using that mechanism may require providing information and potentially bearing Customs costs (s10).
Theatre and venue operators must avoid permitting public performances of works where the owner has the exclusive performing right, or face summary penalties (s15, s17).
Possible trade-offs and opportunity costs apparent in the text
Administrative centralisation and dependence on Regulations/Orders: the Act delegates significant implementation detail to executive regulation and Orders in Council (ss10(3), 11–12, 42). The result is that statutory rights and enforcement depend materially on those secondary instruments being made and administered.
Registration as a gateway: making registration optional but prerequisite to particular summary remedies (s26) creates a design choice that lowers formal barriers to claiming copyright but concentrates certain enforcement powers in registered holders, which may influence strategic behaviour (whether to register, when to seek summary relief).
Private enforcement financing at the border: the Customs detention mechanism can be invoked by owners who notify Customs, but regulations may require the informant to cover costs of detention and proceedings (s10(5)), imposing a financial barrier to border enforcement.
Key implementation and legal-risk points in the text
The Governor-General’s Orders can extend protection to works from other parts of the King's Dominions, but only where reciprocal arrangements or conditions are satisfied (ss11–12). The practical scope of international protection therefore depends on executive determinations.
The Registrar is empowered to retain deposit copies and to certify register entries that serve as prima facie evidence (ss33, 38). Incorrect or false representations to the Registrar are criminal offences with severe penalties (s39).
Summary penalties have short limitation periods for initiation (six months for summary proceedings, s19) while civil actions have a different limitation (three years, Schedule s10). That splits enforcement timelines between summary and civil paths.
Primary statutory references: ss4, 5–9, 10, 11–12, 14–19, 22–25, 26–38, 39–42, 40; Schedule (British Copyright Act 1911) provisions cited above.