Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated ActsIndictable offence
(1) A person commits an offence if:
(a) the person engages in conduct; and
(b) the conduct results in one or more infringements of the copyright in a work or other subject - matter; and
(c) the infringement or infringements have a substantial prejudicial impact on the owner of the copyright; and
(d) the infringement or infringements occur on a commercial scale.
(2) An offence against subsection (1) is punishable on conviction by a fine of not more than 550 penalty units or imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or both.
Note: A corporation may be fined up to 5 times the amount of the maximum fine (see subsection 4B(3) of the Crimes Act 1914 ).
Summary offence
(3) A person commits an offence if:
(a) the person engages in conduct; and
(b) the conduct results in one or more infringements of the copyright in a work or other subject - matter; and
(c) the infringement or infringements have a substantial prejudicial impact on the owner of the copyright and the person is negligent as to that fact; and
(d) the infringement or infringements occur on a commercial scale and the person is negligent as to that fact.
Penalty: 120 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years, or both.
(4) An offence against subsection (3) is a summary offence, despite section 4G of the Crimes Act 1914 .
Determining whether infringements occur on commercial scale
(5) In determining whether one or more infringements occur on a commercial scale for the purposes of paragraph (1)(d) or (3)(d), the following matters are to be taken into account:
(a) the volume and value of any articles that are infringing copies that constitute the infringement or infringements;
(b) any other relevant matter.
Defence relating to law enforcement and national security
(6) This section does not apply in respect of anything lawfully done for the purposes of law enforcement or national security by or on behalf of:
(a) the Commonwealth or a State or Territory; or
(b) an authority of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory.
Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in subsection (6) (see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code ).
Defence for certain public institutions etc.
(7) This section does not apply in respect of anything lawfully done by the following in performing their functions:
(a) a library (other than a library that is conducted for the profit, direct or indirect, of an individual or individuals);
(b) a body mentioned in:
(i) paragraph (a) of the definition of archives in subsection 10(1); or
(ii) subsection 10(4);
(c) an educational institution;
(d) a public non - commercial broadcaster, including:
(i) a body that provides a national broadcasting service within the meaning of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 ; and
(ii) a body that holds a community broadcasting licence within the meaning of that Act.
Note 1: A library that is owned by a person conducting a business for profit might not itself be conducted for profit (see section 18).
Note 2: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in subsection (7) (see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code ).
(8) This section does not apply in respect of anything lawfully done by a person in connection with a work or other subject - matter if:
(a) the person has custody of the work or other subject - matter under an arrangement referred to in section 64 of the Archives Act 1983 ; and
(b) under subsection (7), it would be lawful for the National Archives of Australia to do that thing.
Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in subsection (8) (see subsection 13.3(3) of the Criminal Code ).