Challenge to Ruling that Conferred Copyright of Animal Abuse Footage to Perpetrators
Challenge to Ruling that Conferred Copyright of Animal Abuse Footage to Perpetrators
Challenge to Ruling that Conferred Copyright of Animal Abuse Footage to Perpetrators
Farm Transparency Project has lodged an appeal to the High Court against a decision that copyright to a film it made on animal cruelty belonged to the perpetrators being exposed.
The sort of laws that prevent the obtaining, possessing and disseminating of the hidden cruelty and brutalisation involved in the animal agricultural industry are commonly referred to as ag-gag laws.
The High Court ruled in August 2022 found that the laws in the NSW legislation, which do not have any specific public interest provision, do “not impermissibly burden” the implied right to freedom of political communication contained in the Australian Constitution, and instead, the measures were found to strike a balance between upholding of the freedom and protecting the citizenry’s privacy.
Farm Transparency International Limited versus The Game Meats Company of Australia Pty Ltd goes before the High Court on 5 May 2026.
“While we never expected state or federal agriculture departments to do anything meaningful in response to our numerous complaints about serious animal cruelty, given the inherent conflict of interest, we were naïve about just how closely they work with these places and how desperately they’ll fight to maintain economic prosperity at the expense of all else,” Delforce said in conclusion.
“It’s a lesson we’ve learned the hard way.”
I, for one, wish Farm Transparency Intl success in the hearing. They are brave young people standing against barbarism in the meat industry.