Stevens v Kabushiki Kaisha Sony Computer Entertainment [2005] HCA 58

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

GLEESON CJ,

McHUGH, GUMMOW, KIRBY, HAYNE AND HEYDON JJ

EDDY STEVENS APPELLANT

AND

KABUSHIKI KAISHA SONY COMPUTER

ENTERTAINMENT & ORS RESPONDENTS

Stevens v Kabushiki Kaisha Sony Computer Entertainment [2005] HCA 58

6 October 2005

S319/2004

ORDER

1. Appeal allowed with costs.

2. Set aside the orders of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia made on 30 July 2003 and, in their place, order that the appeal to that Court be dismissed with costs.

On appeal from the Federal Court of Australia

Representation:

J V Nicholas SC with C Dimitriadis for the appellant (instructed by Gadens Lawyers)

D K Catterns QC and R Cobden for the respondents (instructed by Blake Dawson Waldron)

J Basten QC with G C McGowan SC and L G de Ferrari appearing as amici curiae on behalf of the Australian Digital Alliance Limited and the Australian Libraries Copyright Committee (instructed by Sarah Waladan)

Notice: This copy of the Court's Reasons for Judgment is subject to formal revision prior to publication in the Commonwealth Law Reports.

CATCHWORDS

Stevens v Kabushiki Kaisha Sony Computer Entertainment

Intellectual property – Copyright – Circumvention devices – Circumvention of a technological protection measure – Definition of "technological protection measure" in s 10(1) of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) ("the Act") – Respondents produced and sold computer games on CD-ROMs for use with PlayStation consoles – Access codes on the CD-ROMs could not be reproduced by conventional CD recording or copying devices – Games could only be played if access codes were read by the boot ROM device within a PlayStation console – Appellant sold and installed "mod chips" into PlayStation consoles which allowed unauthorised copies of games to be played – Whether appellant had knowingly sold or distributed a circumvention device which was capable of circumventing, or facilitating the circumvention of, a technological protection measure – Whether access codes and boot ROM were technological protection measures – Whether access codes and boot ROM prevented or inhibited the infringement of copyright by preventing access to unauthorised copies of games.