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The Arcade Parade is the Melbournalia and Australiana blog of boutique publishers Arcade Publications. Keeping you up to date with the past. Find us at www.arcadepublications.com

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December 12, 2011
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Really wanted to post on defaced Australian currency but, you know, this: “It is a criminal offence under the Crimes (Currency) Act 1981 (Cth) to deface or destroy current Australian currency coins. It is also an offence to sell or possess current coins that have been defaced. Defacing a coin includes coating the surface of the money with any sort of material. The penalty for defacing coins , or selling or possessing money that has been defaced, is $5,000 or imprisonment for two years for an individual (or both), and $10,000 for a body corporate. You may also be guilty of the offence of making counterfeit money if you alter a genuine coin. “The destruction or alteration of designs used on coins may also infringe the right of the author of the design not to have an artistic work subject to derogatory treatment. The author’s rights to ‘integrity of authorship’ are protected under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). If you do something in relation to an artistic work that is prejudicial to the author’s honour or reputation, a court can order you to stop the infringing conduct, make a public apology, or pay damages to the artist.” Interesting, and perhaps explains why there’s no pics of defaced Australian currency on the Internet. But there’s no shortage of altered American currency!

Really wanted to post on defaced Australian currency but, you know, this:

“It is a criminal offence under the Crimes (Currency) Act 1981 (Cth) to deface or destroy current Australian currency coins. It is also an offence to sell or possess current coins that have been defaced. Defacing a coin includes coating the surface of the money with any sort of material. The penalty for defacing coins , or selling or possessing money that has been defaced, is $5,000 or imprisonment for two years for an individual (or both), and $10,000 for a body corporate. You may also be guilty of the offence of making counterfeit money if you alter a genuine coin.

“The destruction or alteration of designs used on coins may also infringe the right of the author of the design not to have an artistic work subject to derogatory treatment. The author’s rights to ‘integrity of authorship’ are protected under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). If you do something in relation to an artistic work that is prejudicial to the author’s honour or reputation, a court can order you to stop the infringing conduct, make a public apology, or pay damages to the artist.”

Interesting, and perhaps explains why there’s no pics of defaced Australian currency on the Internet. But there’s no shortage of altered American currency!

Notes:

  1. arcadeparade posted this