Copyright (International Protection) Regulations 1969

The Copyright (International Protection) Regulations 1969 are an in-force legislative instrument made under the Copyright Act 1968. Their main function is to apply parts of the Australian copyright regime to specified foreign countries and to foreign-connected copyright material.

For businesses, the practical point is simple: overseas origin does not mean Australian use is unrestricted. These Regulations can cause foreign works and other copyright material to be treated under Australian law in much the same way as Australian material, subject to stated exceptions, modifications, savings and transitional rules.

They also do not create a separate copyright code. Their role is to extend the operation of existing Australian copyright rules to foreign material in the situations described by the Regulations.

Regulation 4 is the main operating provision for works and subject matter other than performances. It says that, subject to the Regulations, a provision of the Act that applies to certain Australian works or subject matter also applies to equivalent foreign works or subject matter in the same way and as if the foreign material were made or first published in Australia.

The same structure is used for several connecting factors. The Regulations deal with material first published or made in certain foreign countries, artistic works that are buildings or part of buildings situated in certain foreign countries, foreign citizens or nationals, foreign residents, foreign bodies corporate, and certain foreign broadcasts. This means the legal answer often turns on the exact connection between the material and the relevant country at the material time.

In practice, the Regulations are not a registration system and they do not require most businesses to file forms. Their effect is to change the legal background against which foreign content is used in Australia. If the Regulations apply, the business may need a licence or other permission under the Copyright Act before using the material here.

The interpretation provisions show that the Regulations cover more than traditional written works. They refer to literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, and to subject matter other than a work, being published editions, sound recordings, cinematograph films, sound broadcasts and television broadcasts. Part 3 also applies certain performers' protection rules to performances connected with specified foreign countries.

The Regulations use several country categories, including Berne Convention countries, Rome Convention countries, UCC countries, WCT countries, WPPT countries and WTO countries. They also define concepts such as Australian retransmission, US television broadcast, relevant broadcaster and foreign encoded broadcast. Those definitions matter because the applicable protection depends on both the type of material and the kind of country connection that exists.

The phrase at a material time is especially important. For unpublished works or other unpublished subject matter, it points to when the material was made, or over a substantial part of the period of making. For published material, it points to first publication. For broadcasts, it points to when the broadcast was made. For performances, it points to when the performance was given.

Regulation 4 applies provisions of the Act, other than Part XIA, to specified foreign countries and foreign-connected material. In broad terms, if a provision of the Act applies to an Australian work or other Australian subject matter, the Regulations can make that provision apply to equivalent foreign material in the same way and as if the foreign material were Australian.

This applies to literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, published editions, sound recordings and cinematograph films made or first published in a Berne Convention country, Rome Convention country, UCC country, WCT country, WPPT country or WTO country. It also applies to artistic works that are buildings, or attached to or forming part of buildings, situated in certain foreign countries, treating them as if situated in Australia for the relevant purpose.

The Regulations also extend the Act's operation by reference to people and entities. If the Act applies to an Australian citizen, Australian resident or Australian body corporate in relation to a work or other subject matter, the Regulations can apply that provision in the same way to a foreign citizen or national, foreign resident or foreign body corporate from the specified country categories.

There is also a specific rule for some sound recordings incorporating a live performance given in a WPPT country. For regulation 4(1), a reference to a sound recording made or first published in a WPPT country is taken to include a sound recording, wherever made, that incorporates a live performance given in a WPPT country, but only in relation to a person who is both a maker of the recording and a performer in the performance.

The Regulations contain targeted rules for broadcast-related material. A provision of the Act that applies to an Australian sound broadcast or television broadcast referred to in section 91 of the Act also applies, subject to the Regulations, to a sound broadcast or television broadcast made at the material time by a relevant broadcaster from a place in a Rome Convention country. It applies in the same way and as if the foreign broadcast were an Australian broadcast.

A relevant broadcaster is a person who is entitled under the law of the country from which the broadcast is made to make that broadcast, and who at the material time is a citizen or national of that country, or a person resident in, or a body corporate that has its headquarters in, that country.

There is an important timing limit. Copyright does not subsist under regulation 4(6) in a sound broadcast or television broadcast made from outside Australia before 1 January 1992. Businesses dealing with archive broadcast material should not assume current protection rules apply in the same way to older foreign broadcasts.

The Regulations also deal with Australian retransmissions of US television broadcasts. A provision of the Act that applies to an Australian retransmission of an Australian television broadcast applies in relation to an Australian retransmission of a US television broadcast in the same way and as if the US television broadcast were an Australian television broadcast.

There is also a separate rule for encoded broadcasts made from Malaysia and the United States. Subject to the Regulations, a provision of Part VAA of the Act that applies to an encoded broadcast made from a place in Australia applies to a foreign encoded broadcast in the same way and as if it were an Australian encoded broadcast. A foreign encoded broadcast must be made at the material time by a broadcaster from Malaysia or the United States, and the broadcaster must be entitled under that country's law to make the broadcast and have the required nationality, residence or headquarters connection.

Regulation 5 shows that the Regulations do more than extend protection. They also limit it in some cases. If copyright in a published edition subsists under the Act by reason only of the operation of these Regulations, that copyright subsists only so long as protection in the nature of copyright subsists in relation to the edition under the law of a relevant country.

The relevant country is a Berne Convention country, UCC country, WCT country or WTO country that has the required connection to the edition. That connection may be the country where the edition was first published, the country of which the publisher was a citizen or national at the material time, the country where the publisher was resident at the material time if the publisher was an individual, or the country under whose law the publisher was incorporated at the material time if the publisher was a body corporate.

For businesses, this means overseas editions need a two-layer check. It is not enough to ask whether the edition looks protected in Australia. If Australian protection exists only because of these Regulations, you also need to consider whether protection in the nature of copyright still subsists for that edition under the law of the relevant foreign country.

Regulations 6 and 7 deal with published sound recordings where copyright subsists by reason only of the operation of these Regulations, or the operation of these Regulations together with subsection 89(3) of the Act. These provisions are important for businesses that play music in public, broadcast recordings or use foreign recordings in commercial settings.

Under regulation 6, copyright in a published sound recording includes the exclusive right to cause the recording to be heard in public only if the stated conditions are met. First, the recording must have been published in Australia, or 7 weeks must have elapsed from the date of first publication. Second, the maker must have had the required connection to a Schedule 3 country at the time the recording was made, or the recording must have been made in a Schedule 3 country.

Under regulation 7, copyright in a published sound recording includes the exclusive right to broadcast the recording only if similar conditions are met. Again, the recording must have been published in Australia, or 7 weeks must have elapsed from first publication and the recording must not be a performance-related recording. The maker or place of making must also have the required Schedule 3 country connection.

Regulation 7 contains a specific definition of performance-related recording. In broad terms, it covers a recording that consists of, or includes, a musical work in which copyright subsists, where the musical work was made for performance with a dramatic work or has been performed in association with a dramatic work, or has been included in a cinematograph film, and recordings of the musical work have not been supplied to the public in Australia. Supplies made without the copyright owner's authority are disregarded for this purpose.

These provisions modify the application of section 105 of the Act. They matter because a business may be dealing with a foreign sound recording that is protected in Australia, but the scope of the secondary use rights still depends on the extra conditions in regulations 6 and 7.

Part 3 applies certain provisions of Part XIA of the Act, which deals with performers' protection, to specified foreign countries. The text shows that participating countries include Rome Convention countries, WPPT countries and WTO countries.

The text also shows that the applicable provisions differ depending on the country category. If the participating country is a WTO country or a WPPT country but not a Rome Convention country, the applicable provisions are those relating to sound recordings or communication to the public of live performances. In other cases, each provision of Part XIA applies.

The available text further states that an applicable provision applies in relation to a performance given in a participating country in the same way as the provision applies in relation to an Australian performance. Because the text available here is cut off before the full detail of regulation 8 is reproduced, businesses should treat this page as a starting point only for performer-related issues.

Part 4 is important for businesses dealing with archive content, historical publications, older recordings or long-running catalogues. The table of contents shows specific provisions for works made before 1 July 1912, works first published before 1 May 1969, sound recordings made before 1 May 1969 in relation to UCC countries, published works and other material relating to post-1969 UCC countries, action taken before a foreign country became a country to which the Regulations apply, and a saving provision.

The instrument also contains amendment-related provisions for changes made in 2018, 2022, 2024 and 2025. That matters because the legal position for foreign material can depend not only on the current text, but also on when the material was made, first published, used or affected by a country coverage change.

In practical terms, businesses should be cautious with assumptions about historical content. Older material is not automatically free to use, and newer amendments do not necessarily apply in a simple way to past conduct. If your business is digitising archives, republishing old editions, licensing back-catalogue recordings or using historical foreign broadcasts, the transitional rules should be checked directly.

These Regulations are not a form-filing regime. Most businesses do not comply with them by registering anything or displaying a notice. Their effect is to change the legal background against which foreign content is used in Australia. The practical obligation is to assess rights properly before use.

If your business copies, uploads, edits, republishes, screens, performs, broadcasts, retransmits, imports or licenses overseas material in Australia, ask four questions. What is the material type? What is the country connection? What is the relevant date? Is there a special rule, modification, saving or transitional provision that changes the result?

Common examples include using overseas stock music in advertising, screening foreign channels in a venue, republishing a foreign manual, using a foreign sound recording in a podcast, retransmitting a foreign television feed online, or reproducing images of an overseas building in marketing material. In each case, the answer may depend on details that are easy to miss if the business only looks at where the content came from.

A common mistake is to assume that if content was created overseas, Australian copyright law is less relevant. These Regulations are one of the reasons that assumption can be wrong. They can bring foreign-connected material within the Australian copyright framework, sometimes with special conditions or limits.

Another common mistake is to check only the creator's country and stop there. The Regulations may instead turn on first publication, place of making, place of broadcast, residence, nationality, incorporation, headquarters, or whether a special rule applies to editions, sound recordings, broadcasts or performances. Businesses should also remember that the current version matters because country coverage and amendment provisions can change over time.

The current compilation referred to here is Compilation No. 16, dated 1 January 2026, and includes amendments up to F2025L01470. The instrument notes that uncommenced amendments are not shown in the compiled text and that modifications affecting the law may operate without amending the text itself.

Before relying on this page for a transaction, dispute or product launch, check the latest version of the Regulations, any relevant endnotes, the current country status under the treaty categories used by the Regulations, and the current Schedule 3 list for sound recording secondary use rights. If the issue involves performers' protection, archive material or a foreign broadcast arrangement, a direct legal review of the current legislation is sensible.