High Court to decide if copyright law can silence whistleblowers

The Human Rights Law Centre and Alliance for Journalists' Freedom have become involved in a High Court case over undercover footage filmed inside a Victorian slaughterhouse.

They ask if activists, journalists or whistleblowers obtain information through unlawful entry, can the target organisation gain ownership of that information and stop the public seeing it?

The case, currently before the High Court, raises broader questions about corporate power, secrecy and who gets to control information in society. The outcome could affect far more than animal rights activists.

Members of Farm Transparency Project secretly filmed inside a goat slaughterhouse in regional Victoria in early 2024 and captured disturbing scenes of animals in distress as they were slaughtered. The company operating the facility is now attempting to use copyright law to gain control of the footage and prevent it from being publicly distributed.allenge powerful corporate interests.