More than $300K in copyright royalties available for TAS Surveyors
November 15, 2019
The Copyright Agency has signed a retrospective deed with the Tasmanian Government for more than $300,000 in royalties for local surveyors’ plans copied and communicated over the period 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2019.
As a result, the agency is rapidly recruiting Tasmanian surveyors, as only members of the agency can receive royalty payments for the sale of their survey plans.
The 2008 High Court of Australia decision found that surveyors own the copyright in their survey plans. The Copyright Agency has since been in negotiations with each state and territory government to ensure surveyors nationwide all receive appropriate remuneration for their work. The Tasmanian Deed is the sixth of its kind, after New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia.
Surveyors’ intellectual property is valuable – a percentage of the sale price is payable for the copying and communication of each survey plan – so it is important for surveying companies to keep track of their plans, especially during mergers.
Copyright Agency member, Wayne Diver-Tuck says his employer JBW Surveyors in Sydney, “…has been a member of Copyright Agency for many years as we believe strongly in getting some form of compensation for copies of our plans which are sold.”
All surveying businesses and sole practitioners in Tasmania should consider joining the Copyright Agency to receive royalty payments. If you are not a member, we cannot pay you. Membership is free, does not involve any assignment of your rights, and can be easily achieved by joining online here.
If you have any questions about membership, you can contact our Member Services team at memberservices@copyright.com.au.
For general enquiries about the surveyors’ licence scheme, contact Jennifer Grim, Senior Manager Government Licensing at jgrim@copyright.com.au.
You can also read our surveyor member profiles for Mark Andrew and Wayne Diver-Tuck.