Some updates

So I have fallen a bit behind in my promised extended discussion of the iiNet case. I’m halfway through the full judgment, but have unfortunately been sidetracked with some other work-related tasks.

There has been no shortage of interesting copyright judgments in the last week. In addition to the iiNet decision, there has been the decision of Larrikin Music Publishing Pty Ltd v EMI Songs Australia Pty Limited [2010] FCA 29 (where the band Men At Work was found to have infringed Larrikin’s copyright in the children’s song ‘Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree’, by using the flute riff in their famous ‘Down Under’ song), and on Monday, in Telstra Corporation Limited v Phone Directories Company Pty Ltd [2010] FCA 44, a single judge of the Federal Court held that copyright does not subsist in Telstra’s Yellow Pages and White Pages directories (choosing to follow IceTV rather than Desktop Marketing).

These are all important decisions, and I have every intention of getting to them (for reading and blogging in detail) as soon as I can. In the meantime, if you are interested in reading some updates and discussions, I’d recommend viewing Nic Suzor’s blog on the iiNet decision (1, 2, and 3) and Warwick Rothnie’s post on the Telstra decision.