Certain fair dealings are not infringements of copyright in literary, artistic, musical and dramatic works, for example, fair dealing for the purpose of research or study [s 40, s 103C], for criticism or review [s 41, s. 103A], or the reporting of news [s 42, s 103B].

Fair dealing is the legitimate use or reproduction of part or all of copyrighted material by someone other than the copyright owner, for defined purposes.

The Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) contains many other specific exceptions: for instance, it is not an infringement if temporary reproductions are made as part of the technical process of making or receiving a non-infringing communication [s 43A and s 111A].

No infringement occurs if an artistic work is reproduced on film or television where that reproduction is only incidental to the principal matters represented in the film or broadcast [s 67].

Sculptures and works of artistic craftsmanship in a public place or premises open to the public may be reproduced in a painting, drawing, engraving, photograph or film without infringing copyright, but not if situated there temporarily [s 65]. Note: drawings and paintings are not included, and so this exception does not apply to mural paintings in public places.

There are also defences concerning the making of back-up copies by the owners of non-infringing copies of computer programs and other uses of computer programs for the purposes of making of interoperable productions, error correction or security testing [s 47AB — s 47H].