Universal Music v. Cooper

Citation: Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd v. Cooper, [2005] FCA 972

The operator of the website mp3s4free.net were found to have infringed the Australian copyrights of record companies in that country by linking to other sites from which unauthorized copies] of recordings could be downloaded. The website operator, an Australian named Stephen Cooper, was not found liable for copying recordings s himself, or for “communicating” recordings to the public.

Instead, Justice Brian Tamberlin ruled that Cooper violated a provision of the Australian Copyright Act that makes it an infringement to “authorise” any act, in Australia, that infringes copyright. Cooper “authorized” infringements by users of his website and by [website operator|operators]] of other websites that made infringements available, Justice Tamerlin concluded, because “authorise” has been defined in Australia to include “sanction, approve [and] countenance.” And the links and language on Cooper’s website did those things.