ACCC is the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. This organisation is responsible for ensuring that individuals and businesses comply with Australian competition, fair trading, and consumer protection laws.

Account of profits if you win a court case you can sometimes claim the profits the other side has made. This is known as an account of profits. This is different to damages.

ACL is the Australian Consumer Law set out in Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

Adaptation one of the exclusive rights given to a copyright owner for literary and musical works, such as translating a book from one language to another.

Aggravated damages additional damages that someone seeking a legal remedy can receive if the other side has acted with complete disregard to someone’s rights, especially if they ignore warnings.

All rights reserved a phrase that conveys the message that the copyright or trade mark owner is claiming all of his or her rights.

Appeal when a court case that was lost is taken to a higher court to review the decision.

Artistic works a term defined in the Copyright Act to include paintings, drawings, sculptures, engravings, photographs, buildings, models of buildings and works of artistic craftsmanship.

Assignee a person or company to whom intellectual property (e.g. ownership of copyright) is transferred.

Assignment the transfer of ownership of intellectual property rights.

Assignor the person or company that owns and transfers ownership of intellectual property to someone else.

Attribution acknowledging / crediting the author of a copyright work.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) the ACCC is an Australian government body that regulates compliance with Australian consumer law (such as misleading or deceptive conduct).

Author the creator of a copyright work, which is defined under Copyright Act according to the type of work (literary, musical, dramatic or sound recording).

Authorisation (as part of copyright infringement) a person can infringe copyright by authorising someone else to perform an act that amounts to copyright infringement. Authorisation is where you give permission, instruct or direct someone to reproduce infringing copyright material.

Barrister a specially trained lawyer who represents a client in the courtroom. This means they go beyond the actions of a solicitor of giving advice, by advocating the case on behalf of a client in court wearing their special apparel.

Benefits of trade mark registration trade mark protection is the strongest form of protection an individual or business can have for their brand. It allows others to identify their brand easily and protects others from copying it, as well as acting as an asset, as you can always licence or sell your trade mark to others. You can use the ® symbol next to your mark if you have a registered trade mark and this can deter others from copying. Finally, it does not replace domain name, company name and business name registrations and these are also important to consider.

Berne Convention the Berne Convention is an international agreement which deals with protecting copyright. It ensures that reciprocal copyright protection is recognised in all countries that are part of the convention. So, for example, if you create a copyright work in Australia, under the Berne Convention, you will also be afforded copyright protection in the United States and you will enjoy the same rights as an American author does.

Breach of Confidence in order to establish a breach of confidence, three elements must be proven: information must have been confidential, the information had been communicated where there is a known obligation of confidence, and lastly the misuse of the confidential information was a disadvantage to you.

Broadcast right this is the right to transmit a broadcast, or to make a film or sound recording of it.

Business name registration in Australia, it is necessary to register a business name if you are trading under a name that is not your full name or a company name.

Care labelling (clothing) is a compulsory requirement under Australian product safety laws to attach English instructions on all textile products that adequately describe how to care for the item.

Causal connection in copyright law is the link between the material that has allegedly violated the copyright, and the original copyrighted work. The owner of the copyright needs to demonstrate this connection to prove that copyright has been breached.

Certification if you have a design registration, it needs to be examined by IP Australia to check that it is new. It must be ‘certified’ before it can be enforced (mere registration is not enough).

Certification trade mark is a logo or word mark assigned to a product or business service to indicate that it satisfies a particular set of standards which can include quality, content, manufacturing method and geographic origin. Examples include the heart foundation tick, the wool mark and the energy star rating.

Character merchandising refers to the use of celebrities or fictional characters to endorse products or services. Legal protection of character merchandising in Australia is mainly through the laws of passing off and misleading or deceptive conduct.

Cinematograph film includes feature films, TV programs, documentaries and these are all protected under Australia’s copyright laws as subject mater other than works

Client privilege (see privilege).

Collage involves combining various materials, such as photographs, paper cuttings, fabrics or other printed materials, to create new artworks. Copyright law may still protect parts of the works used to create the collage and the new collage as a work.

Collecting society is an organisation with the right to authorise the use of copyright material and collect royalties on behalf of the author, examples being: APRA for musical works, CAL for authors, journalists, illustrators, visual artists and photographers.

Commissioned work is a work that an artist has been paid to create on certain terms.

Common law refers to decisions made by judges that influence how legislation is applied and interpreted, and that can be drawn upon to set a precedent for future cases.

Common law trade mark is an unregistered trade mark that is protected under common law. The registration of trade marks is not mandatory in Australia, so that if one can prove that they have an established reputation in using a certain trade mark, they can be protected under common law.

Community trade mark means a trade mark that is registered for all countries in the European Union.

Compilations the selection and arrangement of material. Factual information such as recipe books, compendiums and maps can attract copyright protection as a ‘compilation’.

Concerns notice this is a document usually sent by someone who is claiming to have been defamed, and which details the specifics to the defamation complained of, including the date the defamatory statements were made and the defamatory imputations that can be drawn from the publication. It normally also includes the action needed to address the issue.

Confidential information is information that is not publicly available (and may be commercially valuable).

Confidentiality agreement documents a promise by an individual or company that certain information will not be disclosed to anyone else (particularly useful if you have a new idea that you want to keep secret). It may be also referred to as an NDA (non-disclosure agreement).

Consideration something of value given to another party in exchange for a promise. It is a requirement for a contract to be binding.

Consignment is a sales arrangement between the author of works and, commonly, a retailer or gallery owner, where the author only receives funds should the goods be sold.

Constructive notice sometimes the law requires you to have had knowledge of certain facts before you can be considered to have done something wrong. If the facts are obvious, the courts may assume that you knew of them. Constructive notice is a legal concept that means a person or entity should have reasonably known about something even if they had no actual knowledge of it.

Consultancy agreement a consultancy agreement is a legal agreement between a consultant and a client whereby the client buys the services of the consultant. It is also known as a services agreement. The idea behind it is to set out the two party’s’ rights obligations to minimise the risks of disputes down the track as everything has been agreed to.

Contract is a legally enforceable agreement. It can be oral, written or implied. For a contract to be valid, there needs to be an offer, an acceptance of that offer and consideration exchanged.

Cookies a piece of web data that commonly comprises of non-identifiable usage data, that is produced by a web server and exchanged with a certain device, each time a user accesses a website. The use of cookies is sometimes referred to in a company’s privacy policy.

Copyright is a set of rights that the law gives to an author of a work to exploit their work (e.g. the right to adapt, post online, perform, publish, reproduce and so on).

Copyright clearance involves getting permission from the copyright owner to use their work. As a rule, copyright clearances should be obtained in writing and signed by the copyright owner and should be clear about the uses the owner consents to.

Copyright infringement occurs when someone else does something with a work that is the sole right of the copyright owner, such as reproduce the work without permission. The test of copyright infringement is whether a work been ‘substantially reproduced’ and this is determined by reference to quality over quantity.

Copyright Law protects the expression of ideas in material form, rather than ideas (or facts).

Copyright notice refers to a statement including the © symbol, the year of first publication and the name of the copyright owner.

Copyright ownership as a very basic proposition, the author of a copyright work is the owner however this rule is subject to lots of exceptions under Australian copyright law.

Copyright registration copyright does not need to be registered in Australia for protection to apply. However, some countries such as the United States and Japan have a voluntary registration system, and registering in those countries can have several advantages.

Copyright Tribunal an independent body established under s 138 of the Copyright Act 1968, that has jurisdiction over statutory and voluntary licences.

Copyright works literary works; dramatic works (such scripts for television advertisements); musical works; artistic works including works of artistic craftsmanship.

Copywriter a person who writes text for advertisements and marketing communications.

Cost agreement (see legal cost agreement).

Counterfeiting refers to the act of imitating or falsifying a product, registered trade mark or art-work.

Country of origin labelling is the requirement under Australian consumer law for particular goods and products to be labelled with their country of origin. The requirements are mostly for food products and may differ between individual States and Territories.

Creative commons a universal licensing system that allows a work to be used or reproduced pursuant to one of several generic licenses.

Crown copyright is copyright that can only be held or claimed by the Crown, i.e. government departments. In Australia, this is the Commonwealth of Australia, as well as its State and Territories.

Damages if you succeed in proving that someone has infringed your intellectual property rights (for example, your design, patent, copyright or trade mark), you may be able to request an amount of money from the court that reflects what is necessary to compensate you for the ‘damage’ you suffered. This is different to an account of profits.

Deceptively similar this is when a trade mark is considerably similar or related to another trade mark, and is likely to deceive.

Deed of release a deed of release is an agreement between the parties to settle a legal dispute. As they are binding, you need to seek legal advice.

Defamation also traditionally known as libel or slander, defamation refers to statements or conduct that can put someone else’s reputation into disrepute. Notably, companies with over ten employees cannot bring defamation proceedings and might instead rely on the common-law tort of injurious falsehood.

Defence of reasonableness for moral rights certain areas of law have defenses that apply when that law is breached. The of moral rights is one of them. Copyright law in Australia makes the breach of a creator’s moral rights of attribution and integrity a defense “if it was reasonable in the circumstances”. The nature of the work, its purpose, the manner and context in which it is used, relevant industry practice and the context in which it was created are all factors that dictate reasonableness.

Defendant is the accused in a copyright, trade mark, or intellectual property dispute.

Defenses to defamation there are many defenses to defamation, these include: truth, contextual truth, privilege, public document, opinion and triviality.

Defensive trade marks this is when applicants or holders of a trade mark register their trade mark goods to several categories of goods, other than the category of their primary trade mark. This is done to protect against their trade mark being used in areas that can be associated with their product or service. Examples of trade marks that are so famous that they could do this include: Coca-Cola, Vogue and Facebook.

Descriptive trade marks a distinctive trade mark, which uniquely identifies and distinguishes the goods or services from one business to that of another. Generally, trade marks that are descriptive are not adequately capable of differing between the goods or services from one trader to another and for that reason, they may not be accepted for registration without extensive evidence of use.

Design registration a system of registration in Australia that protects the visual appearance, shape and configuration of products. It is administered by IP Australia.

Designs refers to the overall visual appearance of a product and its shape, pattern, ornamentation and configuration.

Dilution law is when the owner of a famous trade mark is granted rights to ensure that the identity and uniqueness of their trade mark is not diminished. For example, a famous trade mark of soft drinks can be diluted if it associated with an inferior product in electricals, to which the owner has no registered trade mark.

Disbursements expenses a law firm may pay on your behalf, such as a trade mark application, registration and filing fees, company search fees and courier fees.

Disclaimer something that you use to qualify a statement that you have made. It must be prominent and in clear language to be legally effective.

Discovery process is a period in which both parties to a legal dispute obtain or gather evidence before the trial.

Distinctiveness unique qualities which do not merely describe the goods or services. Often required for a trade mark to be successfully registered.

Domain name the address that identifies a website. Domain names are not owned – they are generally licensed and this licence can lapse or expire.

Domain name registration domain names can be registered via various bodies, but need to be renewed and do not give ownership rights to the name.

Dramatic works includes screenplays, scripts, choreographic shows and scenarios for films and commercials (e.g. storyboards).

Due diligence a process of undertaking sufficient investigation and evaluation so that an informed decision can be made. This may be a legal obligation, but is usually a voluntary exercise.

Duration of copyright is the length of time copyright lasts. For most artistic work, copyright lasts for seventy years after the end of the year in which the artist died. For published editions, copyright is granted for twenty-five years after the end year in which that edition was published.

Economic rights the author’s right to make a profit from the use of copyrighted work.

Estate all property (including intellectual property) that was owned by a person when they died.

European Union an economic and political system that includes twenty-eight member states, primarily based in Europe. It operates as a supranational independent institute given the responsibility of governing and implementing core policy issues across the member states.

Examination is the procedure taken to assess whether a trade mark or intellectual property application meets the requirements set out by the relevant body.

Exclusive licence where the copyright owner gives a licence to someone else to use their work to the exclusion of everyone else, including themselves.

Fair dealing an important concept in copyright protection, that translates when you can and cannot use other people’s work legally. Under the Copyright Act, Australian law permits fair dealing allowances for the following purposes: research and study, review and criticism, news reporting, legal advice and parody and satire.

Fair use known as fair dealing in Australia, this is a concept in copyright disputes which seeks to establish at which point using copyright material is considered “substantial”, or “unfair”.

Famous mark is a well-known trade mark that is given more rights in addition to those of similar goods or services. One of these rights is protection from dilution. (see dilution).

False attribution where an incorrect person is stated as the author of the work.

Food law Australia’s food laws are governed by a number of pieces of Commonwealth, State and Territory legislation. From farm to table, the laws you need to consider if you sell, distribute, manufacture or import food or beverage products include:  labelling and packaging, adequate warnings for things such as allergies and pregnant women, health and nutrient content statements, country of origin labelling, weights and measurements laws and sometimes even the laws surrounding food recalls.

Food Standards Code is the code set by FSANZ and enforced by state and territory agencies and departments.

FSANZ (Food Standards Code Australia and New Zealand) this Code contains standards for food additives, food safety, labelling and foods that need pre-approval such as GM foods. It must be complied with in Australian and New Zealand and all covers compositional requirements for specific foods. For example, did you know that to call something chocolate, it needs to have a minimum of 200 g/kg of cocoa bean derivatives? Or, if you have a characterising ingredient in a food such as Strawberry Yoghurt, you need to state the percentage of that ingredient (strawberries) on the label.

Game of chance a game in which the result is determined at random, or by chance. Examples include rolling dice, roulette wheels and the drawing of numbered balls.

Game of skill is the description given to games such as chess or certain card games, that require mental or physical skill to arrive at an outcome.

Generic trade marks generic trade marks do not qualify for any trade mark protection, as generic terms cannot be used to trade mark an item in the same category. For example, the word ‘Grapes’ cannot be used for a business selling grapes, but can be used for a business selling shoes.

Generic use applies to trade marks that become descriptive in the English language over time and can no longer be protected. Examples include ‘escalator’ and ‘zipper.’

Geographical indications are signs that identify where a product, usually food, originates from. The geographical location can be, for example, a country, region, town or city, and the indication seeks to convey the reputation associated with the place of origin.

Ghostwriter someone who writes a work that is then credited to another person. Frequently used for ‘autobiographies’ of famous figures.

Goods and services these are the products or services for which a trade mark is intended for.

Goodwill the value of the reputation built up in a brand or business or through association with an artist.

Graffiti markings on someone’s property without permission from the owner or local council.

Green claims these are representations that are made in relation to a good or service, or its packaging that suggest it meets a specific environmental or organic standard.

Hague Agreement an established system that governs the international registration of industrial designs and allows the protection to be covered in multiple countries.

Hearsay is unsubstantiated information which can be considered admissible evidence in court.

Idea-expression dichotomy is the concept in copyright law that guarantees the protection of an idea’s description, rather than the idea itself. This means that copyright infringement only occurs when the way the idea is expressed is copied, e.g. a similar design, composition of words or music. Granting copyright to the idea itself is seen to inadvertently create a monopoly.

Implied licence in cases where no written licence is given, but it is clearly intended for the licence to be granted (i.e. the licence is implied), parties can proceed as if it were. In some circumstances, a licence to use copyright material is implied even in the absence of any contract. For example, if you commission someone to create, for reward, a work for a specific purpose, such as an illustration for a book, you have the right to use the illustration in the manner and for the purpose agreed at the time of the commission.

Incidental use is use of a work in a subordinate or subsidiary manner (for example, graffiti art in the background of a photograph) rather than as the main ‘piece’.

Indemnity an agreement that one party will make up any loss which is suffered by another party because of the first party’s actions.

Independent creation used in copyright law to refer to a work that has been created without reference to any existing works. It can be a defence to copyright infringement.

Industrially applied when fifty or more of a product is produced or manufactured, this means that it has been ‘industrially applied’. Commonly referred to as ‘mass produced’, industrially applied products lose copyright protection unless they are a work of artistic craftsmanship.

Infringement a breach of someone’s intellectual property rights.

Injunction an order by a court forbidding a certain activity, such as a threatened infringement of copyright.

Innovation patent a patent for an invention that is only slightly different from previous inventions.

Intangible asset property that has value but which does not exist in a physical form, e.g. copyright or someone’s goodwill.

Intellectual Property Australia (IP Australia) the Australian government body that administrates the registration of intellectual property rights including trade marks, designs and patents. This does not include copyright (which is not registrable in Australia).

Itemised invoice a detailed summary from a service provider, such as a lawyer, showing each completed task and the subsequent payment required.

Joint copyright ownership when two or more authors prepare a work with the intent to combine their contributions into inseparable work, it is usually considered joint work and the authors are considered joint copyright owners. Joint owners normally own the copyright in equal shares unless they have agreed otherwise and if they have, then unequal sharing of copyright can exist by agreement.

Joint works are works that are created by two or more authors collaboratively. (Someone who simply supplies ideas will usually not be considered a joint author).

Jurisdiction the authority to hear and determine legal disputes.

Legal costs agreement formal documentation between a client and lawyers indicating the agreed-upon costs.

Letters of demand letters that lawyers send to other parties asking them to do something or to stop certain conduct. They are also known as ‘cease and desist’ letters.

Liability when you are legally responsible for someone else’s loss.

Libel defaming someone using written words, images or even conduct (see also defamation).

Licence permission to do something with intellectual property (usually copyright or a trade mark) that would otherwise constitute infringement.

Literary works written material including books, seminar papers, online material, compilations and even computer programs.

Litigation is the legal action taken to address a dispute.

Lyrics words to a song, rhyme, ballad or the like. Lyrics are protected as ‘literary works’ under the Copyright Act.

Madrid Protocol a system that allows for trade marks to be registered in multiple countries around the world with a single application. At the time of writing there were at least ninety countries that were signatories to the protocol.

Misappropriation is the unauthorised use of non-copyrightable ideas, trade and business secrets, or the illegal use of ideas before the creator has claimed rights to their work.

Misleading or deceptive conduct (prohibition against) applies to all conduct in trade or commerce and has a very broad application under Australian law.

Misrepresentation a statement that is incorrect, either innocently or fraudulently, which leads people to err.

Model release a document signed by a person being photographed (or their parents in the case of under 18-year-old) granting permission to someone else to publish their likeness, image and photograph in one form or another (often used for business purposes such as fashion catalogues).

Moral rights a group of rights granted under the Copyright Act that are personal and stay with the author (these are the rights of integrity, attribution and to not be falsely attributed).

Musical works musical works are protected under the Copyright Act and include scores and notations.

Newness for a design to be registered, it must be sufficiently ‘new’, in that it has not been communicated publicly (visually or otherwise) or used before.

Nice classification system (NCL) is an international system used to register trade and registration marks that classify goods and services.

Non-exclusive licence where the copyright owner gives the licensee permission to use their work in a specific way, but not to the exclusion of other ways.

Non-use application (trade marks) a formal request to have a registered trade mark removed from the Trade Marks Office register because of non-use, where a third party can apply for the trade mark to be removed.

Notice of Objection formal documentation seeking to prevent the registration of a trade mark. Known as a notice of opposition in Australia.

Open-source content that is published with a free, universal licence in a format that allows it to be transformed and edited easily.

Opposition period is the length of time during which any other person or entity can contest the registration of intellectual property.

Opt-out clause the ability to request that your address be removed from a mailing list, or that your data be deleted from a database.

Originality for a work (or subject matter other than a work, such as music or film) to be capable of copyright protection it must be independently created and not be substantially based on a previous work.

Orphan works copyrighted works where the author is anonymous or cannot be found. The usual consequence of this is that the work cannot be used.

Out of court settlement (see settlement).

Packaging law states the standards to which products need to meet regarding packaging and labelling. Each State and Territory in Australia has its own laws. (see also plain packaging).

Parallel importation refers to a product being imported from another country into Australia without the permission of the intellectual property owner. These goods are often referred to as grey goods although there is nothing grey about them (although the term grey may infer something mysterious about them).  If they are genuine products they might be legal from an intellectual property perspective but other aspects may make them illegal, for example, if their labelling or packaging does not comply with local laws.

Partnership when two or more people go into business together to form one single business.

Passing off a common-law claim, or ‘tort’, which basically means that one person passes of their goods and reputation as those of someone else. Passing off protects the goodwill of a trader from a misrepresentation. 

Patents protect inventions based on the way things work rather than how they look. Some famous Australian inventions that have been patented include the Hills Hoist and the bionic ear.

Personal rights are rights that accompany the owner of copyright that are personal rather than economic in nature. Also known as ‘moral rights’.

Plain packaging also known as generic or standardised packaging, it requires the removal of all branding (colours, imagery and trade marks). Manufacturers have to comply with the strict rules such as printing the brand name in a mandated size, font and place on the pack and featuring certain pictures on the packs.  Plain packaging, logo-free boxes in a drab dark brown colour, has been a legal requirement in Australia since 1 December 2012.

Plant Breeders’ Rights legislation used to protect a registered variety of plants that are distinct, unvarying and stable.

Priority date a technical term that generally refers to the date that a registrable intellectual property right is applied for. In a trade marks context, it will refer to the date that the trade mark was filed. If the trade mark is later registered, protection will take effect from that date.

Privacy laws Australia has no uniform privacy laws and you should consult your state’s statutory authority to obtain the relevant information.

Privacy policy a policy that governs how you collect, use, store and disclose peoples’ personal information, being any information that can identify them as individuals.

Privilege a rule that clients can freely communicate with their legal advisors without fear that such communications will be able to be used against them later.

Product safety standards require that goods and services offered to Australian customers meet certain product safety specifications.

Public domain works that are out of copyright are considered in the public domain, for example where copyright has expired or works have been licensed under a Creative Commons scheme.

Publication when a work is made available to the public, e.g. published in written form. 

Published editions of works are groups of variations or reproductions of an original publication.

Punitive damages extra compensation that a court can order because the losing party has acted particularly unfairly (see also remedies). Also known as ‘exemplary damages’.

Quotation generally refers to the taking of some part of a greater whole by someone who is not the creator of a work, whether it a selection of words from a book, a visual element from a painting or part of a musical composition.

Registered trade mark a formal system of trade mark registration in Australia that gives certain exclusive rights to use the mark as an indication of origin. However, unregistered trade marks may still be protected under common law and the tort of passing off, which protects reputation in a brand.

Release a document signed by one party to ‘give up’ their rights against another party.

Remedies describes the compensation that someone may receive if their intellectual property rights are infringed (see also injunction, damages, account of profits). It may also include a public apology or corrective statement.

Representation a statement made by one party to another party before they enter into a contract. 

Resale royalty rights artists have the right at law to a percentage of the sale price of each subsequent commercial sale of their work for the duration of copyright. These are known as resale royalty rights.

Retainer an amount of money that a law firm may require upfront before they work for you.

Right of integrity one of the moral rights granted under the Copyright Act. This right prevents the work from being distorted or modified in any way.

Risk management this term refers to a set of processes, systems and procedures used by businesses to implement and monitor an approach to identifying, analysing, and taking steps to reduce or eliminate exposures to legal risk in business.

Royalty a payment made to the author upon sale of the work.

Scandalous trade marks are trade mark applications that are considered either illegal, too offensive or inappropriate for the public at large. Section 42(a) of the Australian Trade Marks Act 1995 rejects the registration of a trade mark if “the trade mark contains or consists of scandalous matter”, although it does not specify what it means by “scandalous”.

Series trade marks refers to a collection of similar trade marks, whose difference does not change the identity of the trade mark considerably. This is usually done by entities as either to have a broader protection of their trade mark, or to reduce the cost of filing multiple trade mark applications. 

Settlement the process of two parties resolving a legal dispute before it goes to court.

Settlement negotiations arise when a party usually writes the other a demand or offer letter, which outlines the strengths and weaknesses of the case, a calculation of likely damages (amount of compensation involved) and a proposed settlement amount. Then the two parties negotiate, often through lawyers, and may come to a resolution to the dispute which means that they can avoid expensive court action.

Slander refers to defaming someone using spoken words.

Social media policy means a policy in relation to how a business’ employees can use social media at work.

Sole licence where both the licensee and the licensor (i.e. the copyright owner) can use the work. This differs from an exclusive licence, which only permits the licensee, not the copyright owner, to use the work.

Solicitor a member of the legal profession who provides legal advice to third parties on a variety of matters. Some, but not all, solicitors represent clients at court. (see barrister).

Some rights reserved this notice means that the author has waived some of their rights in their work, but has retained others.

Sound recordings are stored works of voice, music or other sounds in a form that can be played back.

Spam refers to unauthorised or unsolicited information sent via the Internet (such as ‘junk’ emails).

Standard patent a patent for an invention that is a significantly inventive compared to any previous inventions, and lasts for up to twenty years from the filing date or from the completed application (or up to twenty-five years for pharmaceutical substances).

Statute of limitations refers to the maximum period that can pass before you can sue someone. The maximum time period differs from country to country, and in Australia it is usually six years.

Street art refers to artistic works painted on a building, or installation art in public places (see also graffiti). Graffiti and street art are generally protected by copyright law as artistic works regardless of whether they were legally created or not.

Subject matter other than works refers to a term used in the Copyright Act, which relates to works that are protected under copyright law in the form of films, sound recordings, broadcasts and published editions.

Subsidiary rights the right to publish content in a different format to the original.

Substantial part a term used in relation to copyright infringement. Refers to the quality rather than the quantity of what is taken.

Sufficient acknowledgement is a concept under copyright law that requires including sufficient information that identifies the author of an original piece of work whenever all or a significant part of the work is reproduced for criticism or review.

Talent agency agreement a contract which defines the working relationship between an artist and the entity which hires them.

Terms of settlement an agreement entered into between two parties confirming the terms on which they have resolved a dispute.

Terms of trade terms and conditions that govern the relationship between supplies of products and who they are supplied to (including shops and websites).

Territorial copyright the right to reproduce or publish a work in a specific geographical region.

Trade mark refers to a brand that is distinctive to another and used as a badge of quality or origin. Trade marks can be registered to give ownership rights in the trade mark, and registration rights are given on a country-by-country basis.

Trade mark and patents attorney a professional who provides expert advice on either or both trade mark and patents.

Trade mark comprehensive searches a thorough investigation which accounts for all possible disputes or problems that may arise in the use of a trade mark considering earlier trade marks that have been applied for or are registered. In other words, a check to see if there is any conflict between a new proposed trade mark and earlier trade marks on the Trade Marks Office Register.

Trade mark knock out searches this is a quick or preliminary investigation on a trade mark. It seeks to eliminate any easily identifiable issues that may arise in its registration.

Trade mark opposition this is a formal argument against the registration of a trade mark due to the similarity in trade marks, and is issued through a notice of objection or opposition (see notice of objection).

Trade mark registration a formal process by which trade marks are protected. Registrations last ten years and can usually be renewed indefinitely for a fee.

Trade promotions are marketing campaigns that provide incentives to the purchase of goods or services. (see trade promotions and lotteries laws).

Trade promotions and lotteries laws are laws which govern the running of trade promotions and lotteries by businesses and trades. These laws can include licensing laws, and vary between States and Territories in Australia.

Trade secret is confidential information that can be of commercial value to a business. Trade secrets are protected under common law in Australia. 

Translation rights the right to reproduce or publish a translated version of the original work.

TRIPS Agreement is the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights 1994. It is the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on IP and covers standards, enforcement and dispute settlement.

Trust account some law firms have a bank account just to hold money on behalf of a client, which may include money the client pays before the firm starts the work (see retainer).

Unconscious copying when someone copies another person’s work without realising it. If it can be shown that they had access to the work at an earlier date, then it can still amount to a copyright breach.

United States Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO) is the federal government body responsible for administering patent and trade mark rights in the United States of America. This, however, does not include copyrights, which are instead handled by the United States Copyright Office (USCO). (see Intellectual Property Australia).

Unjustified threats where a business threatens another party for copyright or trade mark infringement without having grounds to do so. This can be an offence in its own right. Also known as groundless threats. If someone gets such a threat they may go to the court and seek a remedy being a sum of money for the loss sustained because of those threats, particularly where loss of sales is involved. In one case, back in 2007, damages of some AU$213,000 were awarded to the business that was threatened to make up for their lost sales of bagless vacuum cleaners after they withdrew it from sale following an unjustified threat.

Volume licensing this is when a product, usually software, is licensed in bulk. For example, Microsoft’s volume licensing programs, allows for an organisation to run multiple Microsoft software across many users.

Volume purchasing this is purchasing goods or a service in bulk. For example ‘Apple’ allows educational institutes to buy items such as books and apps in volume and allocate them accordingly.

Warranty a legal guarantee that often arises in contracts and requires the other side to make a promise about something. The term is not to be confused with an indemnity.

Website terms and conditions this is the information that details how, and in what circumstances, a website and its content can be used. This can be considered to be a license, granting users permissions, obligations and limitations whenever parts of the website content is used.

WIPO is The World Intellectual Property Organisation.

Without prejudice the phrase without prejudice offers are generally made when two parties are trying to settle a legal dispute. They are generally confidential and the idea behind them is that the details of the offer should not be given to the judge as the purpose of them it to try and resolve a dispute without worrying that that offer will be later held against you if the other side refuses.  For example, your lawyers might write an aggressive letter setting why the other side’s case is week but at the same time write a separate ‘without prejudice’ letter offering to settle the claim for a sum of money.

Work includes a literary work, a dramatic work, a musical work, or an artistic work.

Works of artistic craftsmanship artistic craft works that have been made with attributes in mind and are not included in the other categories of copyright protection. For example, a handmade garment or a piece of jewellery.