Australian Federal Court Awards Damages To Artist For False Copyright Claim

Posted by Soulskill on Friday March 30, 2012 @02:08AM from the it's-a-start dept.

New submitter BarryHaworth writes "In a decision handed down earlier this month, the Australian Federal Court awarded damages to Aboriginal artist Richard Bell over a false claim of copyright infringement. The claim related to a take-down notice claiming copyright infringement from film footage used in a trailer for a film being made by the artist. The court declared Mr. Bell the owner of the copyright and awarded him $147,000 in damages for lost sales of paintings and catalogues. At time of writing, YouTube does not appear to have caught up with the decision."

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I wish this would happen in the USA by MetalliQaZ · 2012-03-30 02:11 · Score: 5, Insightful

... just one big case would be enough to bring some sanity to our system.

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"Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
Re:The defendant didn't show up by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-30 02:31 · Score: 5, Insightful

Is it meaningless? It sets precedence. The next case in that jurisdiction is more likely to go the same way; that seems meaningful to me.