The ownership of footage of slaughtered goats may affect future press freedom in Australia, whistleblower advocates say, as the case heads to the High Court.
The odd set of events has come about due to a novel legal strategy employed by a Victorian abattoir, accused of mistreating animals.
In 2024, animal welfare activists Farm Transparency trespassed onto Game Meats Company property to take footage of what they alleged were cruel practices.
Farm Transparency passed on the footage to news outlet Seven, who were slapped with an injunction by Game Meats Company to prevent broadcast.
In the two years since, the legal dispute has escalated to the Federal Court, and on appeal it has now gone before Australia's most senior court.
At the heart of the dispute is who owns the footage.
"Copyright traditionally defaults to the creators of that material," Alliance for Journalists' Freedom executive director Peter Greste said.
"The moment that you make a film, the moment that you write a book, the moment that you write an article, the copyright goes to you."
What Game Meats Company's lawyers have argued, in convincing the Federal Court last year, is that the copyright should instead belong to them.
"I was impressed with the lawyers that came up with this argument," Mr Greste said.
"But we're really concerned about the way in which copyright law has been used in a way that it was never designed for."
Mr Greste said the "unprecedented" ruling must be overturned by the High Court, otherwise it "risks giving those who want wrongdoing covered up additional legal ammunition to shutdown public interest journalism".
Kieran Pender, of the Human Rights Law Centre Whistleblower Project, said if copyright laws were re-interpreted by the court it could act as a deterrent to those looking to expose wrongdoing.
"History shows that when wrongdoers are given legal tools to silence whistleblowers and journalists, those tools are used, and that's bad for Australians," he said.
The matter was heard by the High Court in a one-day hearing on Tuesday, with a judgment expected in the coming months.
Farm Transparency has also been ordered by the Federal Court to pay $130,000 in damages for its trespassing.
AAP has sought comment from Game Meats Company.
