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http://law.gov.au/publications/copyrightaus97.htm#anchor386097

Copyright law only protects 'original' works. A copyright work will be considered original if it is the creator's own intellectual effort and has not been copied from another person's work.

The Copyright Act does not require the completion of formalities (such as publication, registration or the payment of fees) in order to obtain protection in Australia, or any other country which is also a party to an international copyright treaty. (This is unlike the position with patents, trade marks and designs where registration is a precondition to protection.) Copyright protection is granted automatically from the time an original work is made in a material form.

Fair dealing

There are a range of statutory defences which may be raised in answer to a claim of infringement. The most important of these are the statutory defences of 'fair dealing' for certain specific purposes. A fair dealing with a copyright work, sound recording, film or broadcast will not amount to an infringement of copyright if done for the following purposes:

for research or study
for criticism or review, or
for the reporting of news.

What amounts to a fair dealing is a matter to be determined on the facts of each case. Many factors may be taken into account. In the case of copying for fair dealing for research or study the factors include: the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the work or other subject-matter, the amount and substantiality of the portion copied, the possibility of obtaining the work within a reasonable time at an ordinary commercial price and the effect on the commercial value of the work or other subject-matter.

Other sites to visit are

http://www.fl.asn.au/practice/ip.html