Under planned amendments, owners identified can pursue rights, payments
Australia’s sitting federal government has announced the introduction of the Copyright Amendment Bill 2025, which sets out the country’s first statutory scheme seeking to restrict the remedies applicable to infringing use of orphan works in some situations.
“The Albanese Government’s orphan works scheme will clarify which works are considered ‘orphaned’, promoting cultural, creative, and scientific progress by making them available to benefit the Australian people, while also helping to provide greater legal certainty,” said Michelle Rowland, Australia’s attorney-general, in a media release.
According to the attorney-general, an orphan work is copyrighted material with an unknown or unlocatable owner.
The media release stated that the orphan works scheme in the proposed legislation aims to broaden access to the creative, historical, and educational works held by the country’s libraries, museums, and other cultural and academic institutions.
The media release added that the statutory scheme seeks to reunite copyright owners with their unintentionally orphaned works and provide a reasonable scope and search requirements to assist them in pursuing and benefiting from their exclusive rights.
“The Government values the contribution of the creative and media sectors to our cultural and economic prosperity,” Rowland said. “Importantly, this scheme provides protections for copyright owners to assert their rights if they are later identified, including avenues for reasonable payment.”
According to the attorney-general’s media release, the recently introduced legislation will:
“We also believe that every child should have access to the best education possible, regardless of their circumstances,” Rowland said in the media release.
According to the attorney-general, the new statutory scheme aims to help students:
“The Government will clarify that the Copyright Act applies consistently to support in-person, online and hybrid classes, and will enrich the educational experience by ensuring that parents, guardians and others can assist with these lessons,” Rowland said.
