The purchase of a CD only gives you the right to own the physical disc, to play it privately, and to pass on the same physical disc to another person. This means that copying the music from a CD including onto an iPod, without the permission of all relevant copyright owners, is an infringement of copyright except in very limited circumstances. The Copyright Act allows you to “format shift” music for personal use, for example, to copy from CD format to MP3 format in certain limited situations. However, this does not extend to use of the music on commercial premises.

Yes, as the venue operator you may be held liable for authorising copyright infringement if pirated music is played on your premises. This might include iPods that are loaded with illegally downloaded music or DJs who are using digital music devices, such as computers, without the relevant reproduction licences in place. As the venue operator, it is also your responsibility to obtain public performance licences from APRA and PPCA (or the relevant copyright owner).

Music pirates can be fined up to $60,500 and up to 5 years imprisonment for each offence. For companies the fines are up to 5 times as much. Under recent changes to the Copyright Act the police can also issue an on-the-spot fine of $1320 and seize pirate music and Equipment.