Australian activists ordered to destroy abattoir footage despite retaining copyright

Australia’s High Court has delivered a nuanced ruling in a case that pits animal rights activism against property rights and copyright law. Farm Transparency International, which secretly filmed conditions inside a Victorian goat abattoir, has won its appeal over who owns the copyright to the footage, but it must still destroy all copies of the recordings it made.

The decision follows an earlier order requiring the group to pay $130,000 in damages, as per details on the High Court of Australia's website.The case centres on footage captured inside a halal goat slaughterhouse in Eurobin, northeast Victoria. Farm Transparency International activists visited the property seven times between January and April 2024, and installed hidden cameras to record what they described as extreme animal cruelty.

The footage was later compiled into a 14-minute video, shared with regulators and media, and posted online.