In his retirement, Robert is persuaded by his friends and relatives to write down some of the stories that he has told in the past, which he has been told are very good. Robert commences writing a number of stories and posts these stories on his facebook page and allows his friends and relatives access to his page.
Unfortunately, Robert finds that a major part of one of his stories has been copied by another author who has published the story in a popular Australian magazine. Robert is very upset. He regrets not taking any steps to protect his “literary works” and thinks that he has lost his rights by posting the story on facebook.
Robert seeks legal advice from his local solicitor and is informed that copyright protection is automatic in Australia and there is no requirement for any type of registration. Robert is also informed that as long as the work is original, his stories are protected from the moment they are made in a material form which would include being filmed, recorded, written down or saved in a digital file.
The solicitor compares Robert’s story to the story in the magazine and forms the view that the work has been substantially copied from Robert’s document which was an original story. He advises Robert that he is able to make a claim for damages against the magazine and the alleged author of the story in the magazine. A letter is then sent by the solicitor on Robert’s behalf to the magazine.
Fortunately for Robert the magazine recognizes the fact that the author has used Robert’s story without his consent and an agreement is reached in relation to appropriate compensation.
As part of his advice, the solicitor recommends that although not a necessity, should Robert wish to post more of his stories on his facebook page, he should place the © symbol or the word “copyright” at the foot of his stories together with his name and the year of creation. This will alert anybody who sees the material that it is protected by copyright.
