When I was a kid, I used to go to the Corner fish and chips shop in Ngaio and buy the family Friday night Catholic staple dinner.

It came neatly wrapped in at least four to six sheets of the Dominion or the The Evening Post.

It struck me when writing the previous article that Chris gave me his newspaper. He gave me copyrighted content and I don’t live at his home.

Shock! Gasp! Horror! Sudden realisation of what is wrong with the Newspaper industry.

Anyone that is a regular reader of the Australian Copyright ACT 1969 as amended would be aware that copying copyrighted media content is only allowed to be shared with persons that constitute your family and are resident at the same address.

So I guess the old Greek guy that used to share his old Newspapers with us (the Koltai family) by wrapping our dinner in them was in fact breaking the law.

Then I thought about all the other trespass that was occurring.

Globally – around the world, newspapers are being recycled daily at Cafes (who don’t pay a licensing fee for the newspaper being read by more than one person), Airlines that loan you the paper to read whilst you are on their plane, Doctors surgeries (although most of their Women’s Weekly’s are extremely deep catalogue – at least five years old) and and and – the list goes on ad inifinitum.

So it strikes me that the AP et al immediately need to lobby Government to have all newspapers recalled after being read or destroyed immediately to prevent their unauthorised copyright infringing reuse.

I would assume that utilisation of newsprint in thunder boxes (Aussie dunny – ok WC) would still be ok, but there is a serious question in my mind about recycling. I mean – what about all those council workers that stand around reading yesterdays and last weeks newspapers, for free, at the recycling plant?

I am absolutely aghast that our media barons, our legislators and moreover the copyright organisations have not noticed this immense transgression of copyright infringement.

From the Tongue in Cheek Department.