The Regulatory Role Of Digital Sea Bandits In Australian Copyright Law (Cancelled)

• In Event: The Law's Impact on Private Lives at the Boundaries of the Criminal Justice System

Abstract

Digital copyright infringement, known as digital piracy, is prevalent in Australia. The Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) defines copyright infringement as judges interpreting and applying the copyright law. In contrast to the notion that individual end-users are pirates, Australian courts perceive digital copyright infringement as a collective action involving, at least, a copyright holder, a content end-user, and an intermediary entity. The intermediary and its role in digital copyright add complexity to govern digital piracy. On the one hand, they can prevent or inhibit digital copyright infringement. On the other hand, they can facilitate unlawful behaviour. Therefore, courts sanctions intermediaries to take on a regulatory role and observe the law. Intermediaries remain crucial for digital copyright infringement and regulating behaviour from the judges’ perspective. This paper explores and examines, through thematic analysis, whether current regulatory strategies involving the intermediary as regulator and regulatee are most effective in ensuring compliance with copyright law. As regulators, intermediaries experience more regulatory obligations to avoid copyright infringement. Current regulatory strategies to ensure compliance with copyright in Australia blur between private and state regulators. To ease the burden on intermediaries, the courts can involve end-users in the legal process and reasonably appropriate copyright liability and responsibility.

Author

• Joyce Shek, The University of Queensland