Copyright

All artworks on this website remain the “Intellectual Property” of Naturesface Art and are protected under Australian copyright law.

Permission to use the images from this site in articles / publications must be obtained in writing from us and guidelines for usage do apply.

In Australia, when an artist creates an “original” form of expression, through using his/her skill and labour, he/she is automatically granted copyright in that form. Copyright is a bundle of rights, which include economic and moral rights, protected in law. These both prevent other people from making unauthorised use of a work and can also provide the artist with additional economic gain from their work.

The main authority for Australian copyright law is the Copyright Act 1968 (“the Act”), which is a Commonwealth law and applies throughout every state in Australia. In 2000 an amendment went through designed to protect the utilisation or reproduction and communication of works on the Internet. In December, 2006, several amendments to the Copyright Act were passed by Federal Parliament.

Usually the copyright creator initially holds the exclusive right to reproduce all or part of an artwork. When someone else wants to utilise that work, he or she must have acquired a licence (permission) from the creator. The creator may choose to charge a fee for this licence or to not grant a licence.

Copyright is distinct from the physical artwork. This means that, in most cases, when an artist sells an artwork he/she still retains the copyright in that work unless he/she specifically assigns or sells it.

In Australia copyright protection is automatic and there is no need to register copyright.

Thanks to international treaties such as the Berne Convention, most foreign copyright owners are protected in Australia, and Australian copyright owners are protected in most other countries. If you want to know which countries do not have copyright laws, contact the Australian Copyright Council.

The type of artwork may sometimes decide the extent of the owner’s copyright. Normally, in Australia, it lasts for the life of the creator plus 70 years. However, there are some exceptions and at present these include photography.

Intellectual property (IP) refers to property rights in creations of the mind, such as inventions, industrial designs, literary and artistic works, symbols, and names and images. IP is generally divided into two main categories:
 the protection of industrial property (protected by patents, utility models, industrial designs, trademarks, service marks, trade names etc); and copyright, which includes literary and artistic works.

Copyright protects a range of artistic works including the plans and sketches of 3D work or the prototype or original of a sculptural or craft piece. However, if the concept is extended into a manufactured good, in some cases it will need to be registered under the Australian Designs Act to get protection. Further information is available on the Australian Copyright Council website under Designs for Functional Articles and from Intellectual Property Australia.