Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Next post in the 'copyright exceptions' series: links to existing government and other law reform reports relevant to the review
I've been creating a series of posts on copyright exceptions (see the side bar for more links). Today's instalments is a set of links to government reports, or law reform reports, that are relevant to copyright exceptions. There are just so many with relevant recommendations, it's quite remarkable:
- The Copyright Law Review Committee Report on the Simplification of the Copyright Act (1998) recommending the creation of an open-ended US-style 'fair use' exception (consolidation of the existing fair dealing exceptions). While published in 1998, it is still under review by the Australian government;
- The Digital Agenda Review (2004) (pdf): This report has a series of recommendations on the library, archive and educationaly copying provisions. It is still under review by the Australian Government;
- The Intellectual Property and Competition Review Committee Report (2000): recommends, in essence, ongoing monitoring of fair dealing issues;
- The ALRC Report on Gene Patenting (2004): recommended that the Commonwealth should amend the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) (Copyright Act) to provide that research with a commercial purpose or objective is ‘research’ in the context of fair dealing for the purpose of research or study. It also recommended that in relation to databases protected by copyright, the operation of the provisions relating to fair dealing for the purpose of research or study cannot be excluded or modified by contract;
- The CLRC report on Copyright and Contract (2002): recommending that provisions be inserted such that contractual provisions that seek to make ineffective certain defences to copyright infringement (like fair dealing) be made ineffective/invalid/void. This report is still under review by the Australian government.
- Final Report of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (2004): made three relevant recommendations: (1) that the Government enshrine in copyright legislation the rights of universities, libraries, educational and research institutions to readily and cost effectively access material for academic and related purposes (arguably based on a misunderstanding of the current position in Australian law) (2) that the changes being made in respect of the Copyright Act 1968 replace the Australian doctrine of fair dealing for a doctrine that resembles the United States’ open-ended defence of fair-use, to counter the effects of the extension of copyright protection and to correct the legal anomaly of time shifting and space shifting that is currently absent; (3) that the Attorney General’s Department and the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts ensure that exceptions will be available to provide for the legitimate use and application of all legally purchased or acquired audio, video and software items on components, equipment and hardware, regardless of the place of acquisition;
- Final Report of the Senate Select Committee on the Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the United States of America: the Liberal Senators adopted the JSCOT recommendations. The Labour Senators recommended (1) that the Commonwealth Government enshrine in the Copyright Act 1968 the rights of universities, libraries, educational and research institutions to readily and cost effectively access material for academic, research and related purposes. Labor Senators further recommend that the issue of such use of copyright material should be referred to the Senate Select Committee on Intellectual Property to investigate whether universities, libraries, educational and research institutions should be exempt from paying royalties after 50 years; (2) that the (newly to be created) Senate Select Committee on Intellectual Property investigate options for possible amendments to the Copyright Act 1968 to expand the fair dealing exceptions to more closely reflect the 'fair use' doctrine that exists in the United States and to address the anomalies of 'time shifting' and 'space shifting' in Australia, and (3) that the Senate Select Committee on Intellectual Property should investigate the possibility of establishing in Australia a similar regime to that set out in the Public Domain Enhancement Bill 2004 (US), with a view to addressing some of the impacts of the extension of the term of copyright, in particular the problems relating to 'orphaned' works.
Comments:
Post a Comment
