If Wikipedia was hosted in Australia, it would be breaking the law.

In an Australian first, the US-based crowd-sourced encyclopedia will launch on Monday a political campaign to change the Australian law, by displaying messages targeting Australians who visit pages it was able to create using a US provision known as "fair use".

The banner advertisements will say that Wikipedia was only able to create the pages because of a provision denied to Australians.

"Six Australian government reports since 1998 have recommended Australia adopt fair use," the message reads. "The government is currently considering its response to the latest recommendation. If you think Australia should adopt fair use, take action."