Who Owns the Information in the Medical Record? Copyright Issues (Report) (Report‪)‬

Introduction The issue of copyright arose with respect to patient medical records in the recent case of Primary Health Care Limited v Commissioner of Taxation [2010] FCA 419, and whether or not the applicant was entitled to claim tax deductions in relation to copyright. To answer that question, the court had to determine whether copyright subsists in patient medical records and, if so, whether such interest had been transferred to the applicant. Two further questions related to whether the applicant used copyright interests to produce assessable income and whether monetary consideration had been paid for copyright interest. The basis of the case also involved a construction of contracts between the applicant and parties from whom Primary Health Care Limited had purchased medical and dental practices. Did the property in patient medical and dental records pass to the applicant at the time of the purchase of a business? Was any copyright interest in those records transferred to the applicant? The facts and the law for this case are drawn from and summarised from the judgment of Stone J of the Federal Court of Australia.