Copyright has long been recognised as critical to the arts and industry, and is a basic element in any strategy to capture and protect your business' intellectual property.
Whether you are seeking strategic advice, need to protect your copyright, or defend an action commenced by a third party, Clayton Utz's team of copyright lawyers can help you.
We are known for our expertise in identifying and advising on copyright issues in new and emerging technologies, having been retained for the groundbreaking KaZaA litigation, and acting in the first case anywhere in the world to deal with BitTorrent technology. We also represented the Internet Industry Association in relation to proceedings commenced by members of the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft against the ISP iiNet which determined (subject to appeal) the liability of ISPs for the copyright infringement of their customers.
We can assist you with:
Litigation - we act for clients in copyright infringement proceedings, particularly in complex, cutting-edge copyright cases. Our experience extends to preventing the unauthorised use of your copyright by making urgent injunction applications (or defending applications brought by other people).
Search and seizure (Anton Piller) orders - we obtain, execute and defend search and seizure orders for our clients, including orders executed in multiple locations.
Copyright Tribunal matters - we have acted in the most significant Copyright Tribunal disputes, including those over the digital downloads scheme and the free-to-air broadcast scheme, and for industry bodies in disputes with collecting societies.
Anti-piracy campaigns - we develop and execute campaigns to combat piracy and counterfeiting, including for electronic game and fashion industry clients.
General copyright advice - we regularly advise clients on infringement risks and enforcement strategies.
Commercialisation - we can help you with all aspects of commercialising copyright, from capturing copyright that is created as part of your business, drafting licences, content agreements and assignments, to due diligence or other copyright issues that arise as part of a larger transaction. We have experience in copyright commercialisation across a broad range of industries including media, music, broadcasting, film, apparel, sport, entertainment, computing, internet and telecommunications.
