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Selected cases

Federal Court of Australia · [2026] FCA 653

McCallum v Projector Films

A Federal Court creative-business case about documentary directing credits, moral rights, contract attribution and promotional materials.

Federal Court of Australia5 June 2026

Plain-English explainers, not legal advice. Check the linked official source before you rely on a specific section, and get advice for your situation.

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Quick read

  • Creative credits are not just etiquette.
  • A Federal Court creative-business case about documentary directing credits, moral rights, contract attribution and promotional materials.

Use this to check

  • Creative agreements should state attribution wording and placement.
  • Festival listings, posters, metadata and final cuts should use consistent credits.
  • Moral rights issues can overlap with misleading or deceptive conduct.

Decision snapshot

  1. 1

    What happened

    • This decision followed an earlier liability judgment about the documentary Never Get Busted!.
    • Stephen McCallum claimed that Projector Films and David Ngo had infringed his moral rights and breached a Director's Agreement by failing to give him the agreed directing credit and by presenting Mr Ngo as a principal director.
    • The earlier judgment found infringement and breaches.
    • This later decision dealt with the orders needed to reflect those findings.
  2. 2

    What the court had to decide

    • The Federal Court had to decide what declarations, injunctions and practical credit-correction orders should be made after findings that Projector Films infringed Mr McCallum's moral rights, engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct and breached the Director's Agreement in relation to documentary directing credits.
  3. 3

    What the court decided

    • The Court made declarations and permanent restraints about Mr McCallum's attribution and representations about Mr Ngo as principal director.
    • It required specified credit wording and placement on copies within the respondents' control and in promotional materials, and ordered Projector Films to pay Mr McCallum $25,000.
    • Remaining relief and costs were set down for further steps.

Practical impact

Practical read

  • Creative credits are not just etiquette.
  • If a production agreement promises attribution, promotional materials, festival listings, IMDb entries and final cuts need to match the agreement and avoid misleading crediting.

Useful next steps

  • Creative agreements should state attribution wording and placement.
  • Festival listings, posters, metadata and final cuts should use consistent credits.
  • Moral rights issues can overlap with misleading or deceptive conduct.
  • Credit blocks may need practical rules for position, size and prominence.
  • Do not change IMDb or promotional credits without checking the contract.

Practical read

This is a credits dispute, but it is also a contract and consumer-law lesson for creative businesses. The fight was about how a documentary identified its director across the film itself, IMDb, festival pages, posters and promotional material. Those credit choices affected moral rights, contract obligations and misleading conduct issues.

The Court's orders were detailed because attribution can be detailed. It was not enough to say that the applicant was somewhere in the credits. The orders dealt with the words to be used, where the credit appeared, whether the card was a single-person card, font size, screen time, promotional credit blocks and the difference between calling someone a director and representing them as a principal director.

For small production companies, agencies and creators, the practical lesson is to treat credit language like legal copy. If a contract says how attribution works, build that into the production bible, festival submissions, social assets, posters and metadata. A late credit change can become a legal problem, not just a relationship problem.

Checks to run

Key points

  • Put exact credit wording and placement in the production agreement.
  • Check IMDb, festival pages, posters and trailers against the contract.
  • Keep approval records for credit changes.
  • Review promotional materials before public release.
  • Get legal help before publishing disputed attribution for a creative work.

Key takeaways

  • Creative agreements should state attribution wording and placement.
  • Festival listings, posters, metadata and final cuts should use consistent credits.
  • Moral rights issues can overlap with misleading or deceptive conduct.
  • Credit blocks may need practical rules for position, size and prominence.
  • Do not change IMDb or promotional credits without checking the contract.

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