News

New ICT director - Ishtar Vij

On 7 June 2010, the ADA held a Directors' Meeting and appointed Ishtar Vij to the Board to represent the ICT category of membership. Ishtar works for the Public Policy and Government Affairs team at Google Australia & New Zealand and has a strong history of supporting both the ADA as an organisation and our causes. We are excited about adding additional depth and expertise to our board.

Decisive iiNet victory shared by all

The ADA welcomes the 4 February 2010 decision by the Federal Court in Roadshow Films v iiNet on copyright and intermediary liability. The decision affirms the importance of ISPs and other providers in the digital economy. To provide further certainty and clarification, the ADA calls on the Federal Government to reform Australia’s narrow, impractical
and archaic safe harbours defence. See our press release for further details.

Book importation barriers are a tax on readers

The ADA is disappointed with the 11 November 2009 decision by the Australian Government to maintain the ban on the parallel importation of books. If domestic booksellers cannot be competitive, then they will lose a further share of the market to online overseas booksellers. This will ultimately harm Australian publishers, authors, and readers. See our press release for further details.

Ice Ice Baby: High Court judgment rules in favour of public interest

The ADA was successful in its application to intervene as a 'friend of the court' in this case, and made submissions that outlined important ‘public interest’ considerations and the implications that this case would have upon users of copyright materials. In a win for balanced copyright, the High Court has reveresed the Full Federal Court's decision, in favour of IceTV. See our press release and the judgment for further details.

John Mullarvey (1950 - 2009)

John Mullarvey made a significant contribution over a number of years to the ADA as a member of the Board. He had a great mind for the challenge of copyright. He was particularly determined when he thought that copyright owner proposals and charges were unbalanced, and could analyse complexity and propose responses with a speed and clarity that few could match. Our sympathies to John's partner and family. Obituary

ADA / ALCC Flexible Dealing handbook

Following on from the 2007 ALCC Copyright Training Sessions, a number of examples where s200AB might be of use to libraries, archives, galleriesand educational institutions have been collected together to form the bulk of the handbook.

The Handbook begins with a background to the new provision, and an outline of how we believe each of the steps of the provision should be approached by institutions. We then work through a number of possible scenarios to illustrate how s200AB might work in practice. The online version of the handbook is now available here (under CC license of course).

Review of Innovation

The Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research commissioned a review of the National Innovation System. The report on this review has just been released, with a number of recommendations of interest:

Recommendation 7.3
Professional practitioners and beneficiaries of the IP system should be closely involved in IP policy making. However, IP policy is economic policy. It should make the same transition as competition policy did in the 1980s and 90s to being managed as such.

Recommendation 7.7
Australia should establish a National Information Strategy to optimise the flow of information in the Australian economy.
The fundamental aim of a National Information Strategy should be to:

• utilise the principles of targeted transparency and the development of auditable standards to maximise the flow of information in private markets about product quality; and
• maximise the flow of government generated information, research, and content for the benefit of users (including private sector resellers of information).

Recommendation 7.8
Australian governments should adopt international standards of open publishing as far as possible. Material released for public information by Australian governments should be released under a creative commons licence.

Recommendation 7.9
Funding models and institutional mandates should recognise the research and innovation role and contributions of cultural agencies and institutions responsible for information repositories, physical collections or creative content and fund them accordingly.

The full report is available here.

See also the address of Senator the Hon Kim Carr to the Open Access and Research Conference, 24 Sept 2008.

IceTV goes to the High Court

The High Court has granted IceTV leave to appeal the full Federal Court case. It is listed to be heard in Canberra very soon - from 16 October.

In the Full Federal Court, it was determined that when IceTV used parts of Channel Nine's TV guide in their Electronic Programme Guide, they breached copyright. In the High Court transcript granting leave to IceTV , Gummow J has specifically called for counsel's arguments to be informed by academic writing in the field, and to look at the issues raised thoroughly, "starting at the bottom". See here for a good general news article on this case.

Guidelines on the prescription of "Key Cultural Institutions"

Currently only instututions such as the state and national libraries are able to take advantage of the preservation provisions contained in sections 51B, 110BA and 112AA Copyright Act 1968, introduced at the end of 2006.

The Attorney-General's Department has just released its guidelines on the kinds of factors it will consider when deciding whether to prescribe other libraries or archives as "key cultural institutions". If prescribed, the library or archive can then take advantage of these new preservation provisions. Key considerations taken into account are whether the library or archives hold material that is of historical or cultural significance to Australia, and whether this material is accessible to the public for research and study purposes. Any body administering a library or archive can apply, so this includes organisations such as educational institutions and private enterprises.

The guidelines are available here. They also contain further information and examples on how the preservation provisions work.

Guidelines on the guidelines

Together with the Australian Libraries Copyright Committee, the Australian Digitial Alliance, has produced a docuement to provide further information on these guidelines, available. We hope organisations considering applying will find this document assists.

Please remember that this document is provided as information only and should not be relied upon as legal advice.

Review of Format-Shifting Exceptions

The Attorney-General's Department has released an Issues Paper relating to the format shifting provisions that allow individuals to format shift their photos and films (Sections 47J and 110AA Copyright Act 1968).

The purpose of the paper is to invite submissions on whether sections 47J and 110AA are operating satisfactorily or whether either provision should be modified in some way.

Submissions are invited from interested parties. The closing date for submissions is 29 February 2008. The issues paper is available here.

**Update: You can view our submissions here**

Review of Collecting Societies
Code of Conduct

The Collecting Societies Code of Conduct must be reviewed every three years, and is due for review in early 2008. The notification of the review is available here, and the current Code of Conduct can be viewed here.

If you wish to make an oral or written submissions relating to the content of the Code, and perhaps make suggestions for changes to the code, you should be aware of these deadlines:

• 28 Jan: Must notify of intention to make an oral submission
• 4 Feb: Oral submissions 9.30am - 4.00pm in Sydney
• 29 Feb: Written submissions due.

**Update: You can view our submissions here**

Proposed Anti‑Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is seeking views on upcoming negotiations for a plurilateral treaty aimed at strengthening intellectual property enforcement, called the Anti‑Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

The countries involved at this stage include Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, the EC, the US and Switzerland. The main purpose of the Discussion Paper is to consider whether Australia should also join in the negotiation of the proposed treaty.

The stated aim of the treaty is to provide a new, higher benchmark for IP enforcement that other countries can join if they wish. The Discussion Paper suggests the possible areas for inclusion are criminal enforcement, border measures, civil enforcement, CD & DVD disc piracy and internet distribution & information technology.

The DFAT discussion paper is available here, and submissions are due 3 December 2007.

Privacy Review

The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has released a discussion paper reviewing Australian privacy law. It’s available here, and is quite a substantial read at just under 2000 pages. Paragraphs 6.95 and 6.96 consider the effect of DRM (Digital Rights Management) technologies on privacy, noting that in many cases DRMs not only prevent copying, but also collect personal information about the user.

The ALRC is calling for submissions and comments on the paper by 7 December.

Draft Infringement Notice Guidelines
released by Attorney-General's Department
for comment

The 2006 Copyright Amendments included a 3 tier systmen of criminal penalties which includes a copyright infringement notice scheme for the lowest tier of offences. The Attorney-General's department has released draft guidelines on how the infringment notice scheme will operate, available here.

Comments on the guidelines need to be provided by COB 5 October 2007.

Copyright Amendment Act passed
11 December 2006

The Copyright Amendment Bill was passed on 11 December 2006. Some of the key changes that were introduced are:

- Provision for individuals to format-shift (eg copy your CD onto an MP3 player) and time-shift (eg record television program to watch at a later time)
- A fair dealing parody and satire exception
- New definition of 'library' that includes libraries whose collections are accessible to the public
- New provision for 'key cultural institutions' to make preservation copies
- A new flexible dealing exception applying in 'certain special cases' for libraries, educational institutions and archives under section 200AB
- New criminal offence provisions, introducing a 3 tiered system of offences which includes an infringement notice scheme for the lowest tier of offences
- Civil remedies and criminal penalties for circumvention of an access control Technological Protection Measure (TPM) and exceptions to the TPMs scheme
- Some changes to the Copyright Tribunal

Further detailed information on the changes will be provided through our mailing list soon.

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Copyright Amendment Bill 2006

The Copyright Amendment Bill 2006 has been introduced into Parliament and referred to a Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee for review. The mega-Bill contains provisions relating to copyright exceptions, TPMs, enforcement provisions, and the Copyright Tribunal.

The Bill can be viewed on the AGD website here.

The ADA provided a written submissions to both the Attorney-General's Department and the Senate LACA Committee, and also appeared before the Committee to provide further evidence in relation to the current provisions in the Bill.

The ADA submission in relation to the copyright exceptions and the transcript of the Senate LACA public hearing can be viewed here.

The ADA submission in relation to the TPM provisions can be viewed here.

(These submissions are also available on the ADA site here)

More information will be available shortly in the next edition of the ADA wrap.

ADA Forum On TPMs: Protecting Access to Knowledge in the Digital Age

The ADA will be holding a forum covering Technological Protection Measures (TPMs) on Monday 7 August 2006 at the National Library of Australia in Canberra.

The purpose of the forum will be to explore the legal and practical issues surrounding TPMs, to gauge the impact of these issues on ADA members, and to address any remaining concerns surrounding implementation of the AUSFTA.

The forum will look at issues such as:
* What TPMs are, what they do, & how the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) may affect their protection under Australian Copyright law; 

* The problems that laws relating to TPMs present for information users, particularly educational and cultural institutions and their clients, and for those working in the information technology industry, including innovators and consumers;

* The relevant exceptions which may be applicable to educational & cultural institutions, consumers and innovators;

Recently, a House of Representatives Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee made several recommendations in relation to how this might be done (see the Committee's report at: http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/laca/reports.htm).

However, there are several outstanding issues regarding not only how these provisions will be implemented in Australian law, but also how the these laws will impact upon ADA members.

*Forum Program*

The provisional program for the day is now available here

To Register For This Forum:

Please fill out the registration form and

either fax to 6273 2545

or email to swaladan@nla.gov.au

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New Copyright Exceptions: No Fair Use

The Government has responded to both the Fair Use and Other Copyright Exceptions Inquiry and to the Digital Agenda Review conducted by Philips Fox. The Attorney-General's Media Release is available here and the Government's response to the Digital Agenda Review here.

The ADA's Position Statement in relation to the proposed reforms as outlined in the Government's media release, is available here.

The ADA's media release of 3 May available here

Further commentary also provided in this issue of the ADA Wrap-up.

Search Engines & Copyright Exceptions: No Exception to Cover Innovation

Please see the recent ADA Publication "Copyright Reforms Won't Cover Innovation" for further details.

Orphan Works Within Libraries & Cultural Institutions

The ALCC & CICI forum on Orphan Works explored a number of issues including the scope of the orphan works problem within institutions, and the options for reform.

For more information, including podcasts of the forum, please click here

Update: House Of Representatives has Released Report on TPM Exceptions

On 1 March 2006 the House of Representatives Legal And Constitutional Affairs Committee, which conducted an inquiry in relation to technological protection measures exceptions, tabled its report in Parliament.

The ADA has welcomed the report, which, amongst other things, recognises the importance of retaining a direct link between access control and copyright protection in the implementation of the AUSFTA provisions.

A summary of the Committee's findings is available in the Jan/Feb edition of the ADA wrap.

Review Of Fair Dealing On Government's Agenda

On 18 February 2005, the Attorney-General announced that in accordance with the Government's election commitments, his Department would be undertaking a review of fair dealing and the exceptions to copyright infringement more broadly.

On 5 May 2005, the Attorney-General's Department released an issues paper; "Fair Use and Other Copyright Exceptions: An examination of fair use, fair dealing and other exceptions in the Digital Age", calling for submissions and initiating this review. This paper can be found here

The ADA has finalised its submission to this review to ensure that important issues to its membership are put before Government.

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September 2000
The Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000 was signed into law by the Governor-General on 4 September 2000. This means it will now commence on 4 march 2001. Read the media release or learn more about this legislation.

August 2000
The ADA has a new website at www.digital.org.au. (You're looking at it). The ADA's sister organisation, the Australian Libraries Copyright Committee also has a new site at: www.digital.org.au/alcc/ .

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