copyright

The artcle written by Abby Dinham titled Music Industry Scores Win in DJ Copyright Case conerns the factors relevant to an assessment of damages for copyright infringement under Australian law and in particular under the Copyright Act , 1968 as amended . In the case discussed in the article liability was not an issue since the six disc jockeys in questions were already found liable for copyright infringement under an action brought by the copyright holders of CDs complied by the disc jockeys

In the case discussed in Dinham 's article damages were assessed

br pursuant to Sections 115 and 116 of the Copyright Act 1968 . Under Section 115 the court can an injunction against the copyright infringers ing that they discontinue the copying and distribution of the CDs or the court may that the defendants pay damages or pay over any profits gained as result of copying and disptributing the CDs By virtue of Section 115 (4 ) the court can also make an for the defendants to pay any additional damages that it feels is appropriate The court may addittional damages depending on the flagrancy of the infringement , or if it considers that there is a need to discourage the infringements complained of . The court may also additional damages if it is unhappy with the defendant 's conduct after he or she committed copyright infringement ,that there was converion of the copyright material , the defendant benefitted from the infringement and any other matters that the court deems relevant

The case discussion contained in Dinham 's article demonstrated the court 's application of the principles under Section 115 of the Copyright Act 1968 . The court in assessing damages obviously took into account the lack of remorse on the part of the copyright infringers and used it as a basis for assessing damages against the disc jockeys . The court likewise considered the profits and benefits gained by the defendants and noted that

.it would not have been necessary to make so many copies of the compilation CDs for this purpose . The purpose of making so many copies was to enable them to be given to audience members , thereby assisting the popularity of the disc jockey , or to be sold to members of the public at prices between AU 10 and AU 15 each

In addition the court looked at the loss suffered by the copyright holders by placing a value on each of the duplicated CDs . The value of each CD was assessed at AU 8 .50 . The court found that more than 2 ,100 of copyright CD 's had been reproduced and distributed by Disc Jockeys without the consent and knowledge of the copyright holders . Under Section 116 of the Copyright Act 1968 property that is unlawfully reproduced will be treated as property of the copyright holders and the damages will be assessed accordingly . In determining the appropriate measure of damages under this part of the Act the court can make allowances for the defendant 's expenses...