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Kingston Beach -Tasmania

Copyright not privacy law

Phil Northeast 14 Oct 2009

The Mercury in Hobart on Wednesday October 14 claims in a page 34 story “memories saved” about an exhibition of old photographs recovered from a local rubbish tip that privacy laws restricted the display of pictures taken after 1960.

There are no provisions in the Privacy Act relating the age of photographs and their display.

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However, it is covered in the Copyright Act where the photographer’s copyright is extinguished fifty years after taking the picture.

Surely the Mercury's journalists and sub editors should have at least a basic knowledge of both acts and how they apply to the publication of images.

This is not the first time the Mercury has published wrong information about privacy laws and publication of images.