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Peter Carstairs

Peter Carstairs

Associate
Baker & McKenzie

Biography

Peter is a senior associate in the Intellectual Property and Technology Practice Group in Australia. He also has extensive experience in the film, television and advertising industries and has worked as a filmmaker in Australia, London and Los Angeles.

Practice Focus

Peter acts for media and content companies in the motion picture, streaming, social media, digital and publishing industries. His focus is on complex intellectual property (particularly copyright) disputes in the digital and media environments including in the Copyright Tribunal and Federal Court of Australia.

Representative Legal Matters

  • Acting for the US Movie Studios, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and Netflix in relation to site-blocking applications under s 115A of the Copyright Act in connection with overseas websites facilitating large-scale copyright infringement of films.

  • Part of a team acting for a social media platform in a dispute involving claims of trade mark infringement and breaches of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) alleged to be taking place in Australia via the platform.

  • Acted for an Australian Pay TV company in a dispute in the Copyright Tribunal of Australia in relation to the retransmission of free-to-air broadcasts under the statutory licence in Part VC of the Copyright Act.

  • As an associate, was part of a team acting for the Australian recording industry in the first copyright infringement proceedings commenced in Australia involving BitTorrent.

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Editorial Board of the Intellectual Property Law Bulletin
  • Communications and Media Law Association (CAMLA) - Member
  • IPSANZ - Member
  • Law Society of NSW - Member

Admissions

  • New South Wales~Australia (1998)
  • High Court of Australia~Australia (1996)
  • Western Australia~Australia (1995)

Education

  • University of Melbourne (Single subject study: Copyright, First Class Honours) (2020)
  • Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) (2002)
  • Bond University (LLB) (1993)

Languages

  • English

Publications

  • Co-author, "Deep Thinking on Deep Linking," Intellectual Property Law Bulletin, 2022
  • Author, "The Inevitable Actors: An analysis of Australia's recent anti-piracy website blocking laws, their balancing of rights and overall effectiveness," Volume 31 of the Australian Intellectual Property Journal (AIPJ) at 280, 2021
Baker & McKenzie, an Australian Partnership, is a member of Baker & McKenzie International, a Swiss Verein.