File sharing is when material is uploaded via, or downloaded from, the internet using an application or network that enables the simultaneous sharing of material between multiple users. Uploading and downloading can (but doesn’t have to) happen at the same time.
Sections 122A to U of the Copyright Act 1994 provide a process for copyright owners to use when they consider an internet user has infringed their copyright via a file-sharing network.
Copyright Act 1994(external link)
File-sharing networks are not illegal in themselves. However, much of the content on file-sharing networks is music, film, television, books or software that is protected by the Copyright Act 1994.
A rights owner can make a claim to the Copyright Tribunal against an internet account holder who the rights owner alleges has infringed copyright via file sharing.
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