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COPYRIGHT ACT 1968 - SECT 195AZA

Remedies for infringements of author's moral rights

  (1)   Subject to section   203, the relief that a court may grant in an action for an infringement of any of an author's moral rights in respect of a work includes any one or more of the following:

  (a)   an injunction (subject to any terms that the court thinks fit);

  (b)   damages for loss resulting from the infringement;

  (c)   a declaration that a moral right of the author has been infringed;

  (d)   an order that the defendant make a public apology for the infringement;

  (e)   an order that any false attribution of authorship, or derogatory treatment, of the work be removed or reversed.

  (2)   In exercising its discretion as to the appropriate relief to be granted, the court may take into account any of the following:

  (a)   whether the defendant was aware, or ought reasonably to have been aware, of the author's moral rights;

  (b)   the effect on the author's honour or reputation resulting from any damage to the work;

  (c)   the number, and categories, of people who have seen or heard the work;

  (d)   anything done by the defendant to mitigate the effects of the infringement;

  (e)   if the moral right that was infringed was a right of attribution of authorship--any cost or difficulty that would have been associated with identifying the author;

  (f)   any cost or difficulty in removing or reversing any false attribution of authorship, or derogatory treatment, of the work.

  (3)   In deciding whether or not to grant an injunction under subsection   (1), the court must consider whether the parties have made any attempt to negotiate a settlement of the action and whether it should adjourn the hearing or further hearing of the action for the purpose of giving the parties an appropriate opportunity to negotiate a settlement, whether through a process of mediation or otherwise.

  (4)   If:

  (a)   the work is a cinematograph film; and

  (b)   the action is brought by a person who is a screenwriter of the film; and

  (c)   the relief granted in the action consists of or includes damages; and

  (d)   the person has already been granted relief by way of damages in an action for an infringement of his or her moral rights as an author of the dramatic work constituted by the script or screenplay for the film;

the amount of any damages that, apart from this subsection, would be awarded to the person in the action referred to in paragraph   (b) is to be reduced by the amount of the damages awarded to the person in the action referred to in paragraph   (d).

  (5)   If:

  (a)   the work is a dramatic work constituted by the screenplay or script for a cinematograph film; and

  (b)   the action is brought by a person who is an author of the screenplay or script; and

  (c)   the relief granted in the action consists of or includes damages; and

  (d)   the person has already been granted relief by way of damages in an action for an infringement of his or her moral rights as a screenwriter of the film;

the amount of any damages that, apart from this subsection, would be awarded to the person in the action referred to in paragraph   (b) is to be reduced by the amount of the damages awarded to the person in the action referred to in paragraph   (d).

  (6)   If, in respect of an act done after the death of an author of a work, damages are recovered under this section by the legal personal representative of the author, those damages devolve as if they formed part of the author's estate and as if the right of action in respect of the doing of the act had subsisted, and had been vested in the author, immediately before his or her death.

Note:   Subsection   (6) does not apply in relation to the right of integrity of authorship in respect of a cinematograph film, which ends on the author's death. See subsection   195AM(1).


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