In a much awaited decision the Federal Court has held that use of headlines and by-lines of articles published by Fairfax Media Ltd in the Australian Financial Review, for the purpose of preparing abstracts of the articles did not infringe copyright: Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd v Reed International Books Australia Pty Ltd [2010] FCA 984 (7 September 2010).

Fairfax Media loses copyright battle

The respondent, Reed provides a service known as ABIX which involves the provision to subscribers of abstracts of articles published in various newspapers and magazines, including articles in the Australian Financial Review (AFR).

Abstracts of around 40-60% of articles in each edition of the AFR are provided as part of the ABIX service, early on the same day as the relevant edition.

Fairfax took the position that in the preparation of the abstracts Reed uses the following works of Fairfax over which Fairfax has copyright:

• Each individual headline in an AFR edition
• Each article, including its headline and by-line, written by journalists employed by Fairfax and published in an AFR edition (Article/Headline Combination)
• The compilation consisting of all of the articles, including their headlines and by-lines, in an AFR edition (Article Compilation)
• Each entire edition of the AFR (Edition Work)

Abstracts prepared by Reed are placed in a database located on a server which is accessible online to ABIX subscribes.

Fairfax contended that the placing of each abstract of  AFR on Reed’s database amounted to infringement of its copyright and that this conduct involves the reproduction of the relevant work or a substantial part thereof in a material form under s 31 of the Copyright Act.

The Court held that Reed’s conduct did  not involve the reproduction and communication of a substantial part of any literary work  in which copyright is owned by Fairfax.

Therefore the court did not proceed to make a decision on the defences of fair dealing  and estoppels, although it believed that Reed may be entitled to them.

It was further held that none of ten selected headlines are capable of being literary works in which copyright can subsist.

This raises the question whether it can be argued that certain headlines and by-lines are so written that they constitute separate literary works in which copyright can subsist and the use of them verbatim is infringement of that copyright.

Fairfax has indicated that it will appeal the decision.

One benefit of working in publishing is the occasional escape from Sydney for three days in country Victoria to become steeped in what is both the art and science of commercial printing.

Seven CCH’ers attended the “Communication in Print” client training seminar run by McPherson’s Printing Group, Australia’s leading book printer, in Maryborough, Victoria, in July.

The printer of all CCH book and loose-leaf products, the McPherson’s team taught us about the many facets of the printing process: requesting a quote, sending through print-ready files, web offset, sheetfed and digital printing, embellishing, binding and finishing, warehousing and mailing, along with paper production and the two global forest certification systems - FSC and PEFC.

A guided tour of McPherson’s printing factory showcased the stunning fusion of science, art, speed and precision, all fundamental to the printing process.

Having seen the printing plates for our very own Australian Master Tax Guide being made, great sheets of paper becoming books by flying seamlessly through machinery, being folded, bound and trimmed, and finally towers of paper bales which contribute to the 5,000 tonnes of paper recycled every year, I will never look at a book in the same way again.

As what can most accurately be described as an eager publishing novice, I can only imagine my unrequested exclamations - “Wow!” and “Isn’t that interesting?!” and “Did you know that?” - tried the patience of my colleagues.

But then again, perhaps that’s why I’ve been asked to write this blog.

With notes in hand and an understanding of what it takes to make a book, I am now part of the long, respected tradition of CCH publishing.

We were recently asked via our Twitter account what is CCH Australia doing with mobile applications?

Here’s our response:

Q - What mobile applications/interfaces do you currently have now or in development?

CCH - We have just launched an individual tax rate calculator at the Apple iTunes store. Next, we’re exploring a newsreader for the CCH Tracker products (email news alerts) and other news. We hope to incorporate text-to-speech in certain apps as well, allowing users to mark stories to be read out loud.

Q - What type of content would CCH see as appropriate for the mobile market? (i.e. the whole of the CCH library or certain subsets?)

CCH - Currently we’re open to trying all content types. We’re talking with customers to understand their needs and workflow.

Q - Are there any issues encountered in developing these, either in the interests of the market or technologically?

CCH - Our online platform IntelliConnect is currently compatible with IE8, IE7 and IE6 and works reasonably well on Firefox. We continue to work with our customers to understand how and where they are using the information in order to add appropriate device and delivery channels.

Q - Are the applications/interfaces being developed for a specific device (e.g. iPhone/iPad, Blackberry) or is a multi-device approach being taken?

CCH – We’re currently developing for specific devices our customers tell us are important to their work.

Q - Have copyright/digital rights management issues played a part in the development of these products?

CCH - Yes. As with all publishers, we respect our authors’ intellectual property, while attempting to meaningfully deliver content to the customer. It’s an important balance, and we’re keeping a close eye on the trends in the industry and new DRM advancements that afford us the best outcomes.

It’s just whistling in the dark to predict how much will Apple iPad diffuse into work life in Australia.

However, with exponential growth of home work arrangements and the abdication of the role of the traditional office the signs are on the wall: it will not be too long before the gizmo spreads its tentacles into every working hour of our lives.

With a memory sufficiently large at some 64 gigabytes (machines with memory as big as a black hole usually end up inside), it has the potential to become a portable and lovable workhorse. Downloading files on the go is not going to be a memory hog for this newcomer.

How does the iPad line up against the ubiquitous laptop?

For one, it is lighter: less than 2 pounds, half the weight of a laptop. For sticky–fingers (literally) typing on the pop-up keyboard is going to be a bother, but isn’t serious typing done on desktops and laptops.

Scrolling is easy as shooting fish in a barrel: just tap and drag. No more pointing and clicking.

Usefulness and popularity of tablet computers is growing and so are the number of applications for them.

It is even reported that the entire US Tax Code is available for 99 cents (U.S that is) from the Apple store.

If you want to know what CCH Australia is up to take a look at Linda’s blog CCH app delivers quick answers on tax estimates.

But now for matters financial. How does one finance an iPad? Not through salary sacrifice as we used do for laptops. After the changes of 2008 this has become almost impossible. Please see the links below

Not so cool when your iPad rebate claim comes up against fringe benefits tax

Fringe benefits tax (FBT) - exempt work-related items

To Facebook or not to Facebook? This is a question that is increasingly being asked in legal circles.

I’ve long been a Facebook scoffer - and thought it was an ego-centric timewaster (of course everyone in the world wants to know what I had for dinner last night (pumpkin soup) and my favourite color (red)).

However, Facebook is undeniably a massive global phenomenon, despite the recent backlash due to privacy concerns, and is unlikely to go away anytime soon.

With over 400 million users online you’ve got to think that to ignore its potential for business is a mistake.

A new survey of corporate counsel in the US documents the increasing reliance on social media sites like blogs, Wikipedia, LinkedIn and Facebook for professional news and information (and of course for personal use).

The survey run by US firm Green Target  measures how inhouse counsel (the primary purchasers of outside legal services) are listening to the social media messages sent by the big law firms.

Do you use Facebook for business reasons? If so why and how?