Who controls trespass footage heres what the high courts answer means for animals and press freedom

Who gets to see what happens in slaughterhouses? The answer is: officials, sometimes, but almost never the public.

In a landmark case, the High Court of Australia has ruled an abattoir cannot use copyright law to control who sees video – allegedly depicting animal cruelty – that was illegally recorded on its property.

But on the facts of this case, the activists who trespassed to film the video were ordered to destroy their copies.

This case has broad-reaching ramifications well beyond animal welfare concerns, but the court's verdict is complicated. Here's what the court found and why it matters for whistleblowers, media freedom and the regulation of abattoirs across the country.