Copyright Act 1998, news reproduction, quotation, and current-events reporting exceptions

Section 9 permits reproducing a short part of a published work in the form of a quotation, without the copyright owner's authorisation, provided the reproduction is compatible with fair practice and does not exceed the extent justified by the purpose, and the quotation is accompanied by an indication of source and the author's name where it appears in the source.

Section 12(a) permits reproducing, in a newspaper or periodical, or broadcasting or otherwise communicating to the public, an article published in a newspaper or periodical on a current economic, political, or religious topic, or a broadcast work of the same character. This permission does not apply where the right to authorise reproduction or broadcasting is expressly reserved by the author or other copyright owner.

Section 12(b) separately permits reproducing, and broadcasting or otherwise communicating to the public, short excerpts of a work seen or heard in the course of reporting current events, to the extent justified by that purpose. Section 8B similarly lets a work be reproduced or used for the purposes of reporting Parliamentary or judicial proceedings or an inquiry under an enactment, without infringing copyright.

Section 27 makes wilful, for-profit infringement of a protected right an offence, punishable on conviction by a fine of up to 250 penalty units or imprisonment of up to 5 years, or both, doubled for a second or further infringement within 5 years, and section 26(5) separately lets the Court order that a threatened continuing act of infringement not be committed, breach of which is itself an offence punishable by a fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.