Earlier this year, a Federal Court judge ruled that 2006 amendments to the Copyright Act protected the making of copies of broadcast programs because the subscriber, rather than Optus, was responsible for the making of the recordings, and accordingly they were protected as being for personal use. The TV Now system recorded programs on Optus’ servers at the request of subscribers and made them available for access by the subscriber across multiple platforms, including mobile devices.
The amendments were designed to address the absurdity of home video recording and timeshifted viewing having long been in breach of antiquated copyright laws.
In today’s decision, Justices Finn, Emmett and Bennett concluded that in fact either Optus, or both Optus and the subscriber, were the makers of the recording for the purposes of the Copyright Act, and that accordingly it wasn’t protected under the amendments.
http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/04/27/tv-now-federal-courts-anti-consumer-anti-cloud-decision/Just when the iiNet decision may have made provided a little clarity, this decision jumps into the water and stirs up all the mud.
