[LINK] Weekend Magazine. On this balmy weekend, something besides the Sunday Funnies to tickle your fancy

[Kim Holburn]

Interesting way of putting it.  So I have these random questions:

Can I play any recorded music at parties at all legally in Australia?

If I have friends over can I play recorded music?  How many friends  
before playing the music is illegal?

Can a friend bring a CD or DVD over and play it at my house?  Can they  
bring a format-shifted file over and play it?

Can I play a format shifted file at a party?

If I have format shifted a DVD or CD that I own, does that now mean I  
can't lend it to a friend or give it away or sell it?  Has making a  
copy done something to my first sale rights (do we have any such thing  
in Australia)?

I rent a dvd or CD or borrow one from the library, can I lend it to a  
friend?

I can format shift a dvd or CD I own, but not one I rent or borrow.   
What if I need to format shift in order to play it?

If someone sends me a dvd from say europe, the US, or China am I  
allowed to play it without a special player? Can I format shift it in  
order to play it?

If they sent it to me as a loan ?


On 2009/Oct/11, at 2:56 AM, Tom Koltai wrote:

>
> My latest blog article.
>
> Copyright What is Legal and what is not (In Australia)
>
> I was slammed into reality the other day by the fact that a Solicitor
> that I have known for many years who dealt in the area of the law  
> known
> as Trademarks and Intellectual Property, got some basic knowledge  
> about
> the Australian Copyright Legislation wrong. (No 'P' it's not you and  
> no
> 'N' it's not you either.)
> I don't think he's a bad solicitor, I just don't think the copyright
> legislation is very accurate in it's drafting.
>
> Quite often the law lags behind the reality of technology. Some
> examples;
>
> in the 1969 Copyright Act, it was illegal to have a photocopier in  
> your
> home
> and for years VCR's were technically illegal in Australia.
> and today (proposed), the DVD writer in your home computer actually
> allows police to confiscate the computer because you have an  
> "infringing
> device" that can create "pirate" copies. (See references below.)
>
> Therefore most Australians are breaking or have broken the law in some
> manner.
>
> So today I thought I would have a go at the Australian Copyright FAQ
> Version II. Version 1 is on the AG site
>
> Disclaimer:
> I am not a lawyer. This is not legal advice. Readers should hire a
> lawyer to interpret my responses before carrying out or relying on any
> of the recommendations contained herein.
> To be clear, Perhaps I should borrow the words of the Australian
> Attorney General's site:
> "Therefore, before relying on the material, users should independently
> verify its accuracy, completeness, relevance for their purposes and  
> that
> it is up-to-date.
> Before any action or decision is taken on the basis of any material on
> this website the user should obtain appropriate independent  
> professional
> advice.
> Links to other websites are provided for the user's convenience and do
> not constitute endorsement of material at those sites, or any  
> associated
> organisation, product or service."
>
> Table and article continues here:
> http://www.perceptric.com/blog/_archives/2009/10/11/4347195.html