Last updated 13 July 2010
The General Meeting to adopt the budget and fees for 2010/2011 will be held at 4.30 pm on 9 June 2010 at ACS NSW office Level 10, Suite 4, 97-99 Bathurst Street, Sydney. All member representatives are welcome.
Copyright Agency Limited (CAL)’s case for surveyors to have their copyright claims acknowledged has proved successful, with the High Court today (6 August 2008) overturning the Full Federal Court’s decision that State governments had an implied licence to use survey plans for free.
For more information please see the media release.
We have added two new links in the Members area under Resource Documents, Links & Templates called Sample Disclaimer Readme 1st file for Topographic Surveys and a Sample Disclaimer to put on the plan.
All bold italics text in the Readme 1st file must be inserted to suit the relevant firm and plan before issuing.
We are looking at adding more sample disclaimers to this page in the future.
Court decides Surveyors own copyright in maps and plans
Surveyors own the copyright in the maps and plans they create, the Full Federal Court decided on 5 June 2007.
The court rejected a claim by the NSW Government that it owned the copyright in the plans surveyors created and registered.
CAL Chief Executive Jim Alexander said a fundamental principle was upheld by this decision for surveyors to have their copyright claim acknowledged.
Copyright Agency Limited, whose members include surveyors, made an application to the Copyright Tribunal for a determination under ss 183 and 183A of the Copyright Act and certain questions were referred for a legal decision to the Federal Court.
The court found none of the plans were made under the direction and control of the State of NSW, or first published by the State.
However, the court also found that the State was authorised to use the registered plans under the statutory and regulatory framework without remuneration for surveyors.
It also said the entering of data in survey plans on to the State’s Digital Cadastral Database (DCDB) did not entail a reproduction in the ‘copyright' sense.
“We are disappointed that despite acknowledging the copyright owned by our surveyor members, the court has implied there is a licence for the government to use the surveyors' works without compensation,” Mr Alexander said.
“CAL is considering the decision and will decide on our next move in the next few weeks,” he said.
