Issue 36 - June 2005
AGD e-News on Copyright
Welcome to the second edition of the copyright newsletter of the Copyright Law Branch of the Attorney-General's Department for 2005.
An HTML version of this newsletter with formatting and links is also available online at: http://www.ag.gov.au/copyrightenews/latest.
You may forward this newsletter to friends and colleagues. When quoting from this newsletter, please provide an acknowledgment of source. Information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe is included at the end of the newsletter.
e-News editor: Angela Tsongas, angela.tsongasATag.gov.au
WHAT’S IN THIS ISSUE?
1. Review of unauthorised access to and use of subscription broadcasts
2. Government examines 'fair use' of copyright material
3. Copyright Law Review Committee report on Crown Copyright
4. Visit of WIPO Deputy Director General
5. WIPO broadcasters’ rights treaty
6. WIPO launches opportunity for stakeholders to participate in IP Policy debate
7. Copyright Law Branch booklet, Copyright Law in Australia: A Short Guide
Go to the end of the e-News for answers to the following questions:
- Who do I contact in the Copyright Law Branch?
- Where can I get more information about copyright?
- How can I subscribe to this newsletter?
1. Review of unauthorised access to and use of subscription broadcasts
On 27 May 2005 the Department released a discussion paper seeking submissions on whether certain unauthorised activities involving access to and use of subscription broadcasts should be made criminal offences under Commonwealth law.
Protection for subscription (or ‘encoded’) broadcasts is currently found in Part VAA of the Copyright Act 1968 which was inserted into the Act in 2001 as part of the Digital Agenda amendments. The range of activities which constitute criminal offences and for which civil remedies are available was extended by amendments to the Act to implement Australia’s obligations under the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA).
As part of the AUSFTA amendments, Australia criminalised the use of a broadcast decoding device where the subscription broadcast is then used in some commercial context. However, it is not a criminal offence under Commonwealth law to access a subscription broadcast without the broadcaster’s authorisation where the broadcast is only viewed or used in a private and domestic context.
Following the conclusion of the AUSFTA late last year, the Government undertook to review its policy on the issue of personal use of a broadcast decoding device. The Government undertook to also consider other unauthorised activities carried out by subscribers to subscription broadcast services that are not currently dealt with under the Copyright Act.
The discussion paper seeks submissions on whether these activities should be an offence under Commonwealth law.
Submissions on the discussion paper need to be made by 17 June 2005.
The discussion paper is available at: http://www.ag.gov.au/broadcastreview
2. Government examines 'fair use' of copyright material
The Attorney-General’s Department has commenced a review on options for including new exceptions in the Copyright Act.
To begin the public consultation process, an issues paper was released on 5 May 2005.
The review is examining whether an exception or specific exceptions to copyright based on principles of ‘fair use’ should be adopted to make copyright law more flexible and relevant in the digital age.
The issues paper notes that as a result of digital technologies a large number of everyday acts involve infringing copyright. Attorney-General Philip Ruddock in announcing the review said ‘Many Australians believe quite reasonably they should be able to record a television program or format-shift music from their own CD to an iPod or MP3 player without infringing copyright law.’
While a major focus of the review is the adequacy of exceptions for private or domestic uses of copyright material, it will also consider submissions that address the need for new exceptions in other areas of the Act.
The issues paper considers a number of possible options for reform. These include a 1998 recommendation by the Copyright Law Review Committee that the current ‘fair dealing’ exceptions should be consolidated into an expanded single provision. It also raises the option of adopting an open-ended US style ‘fair use’ provision.
The issues paper, and information on how to make a submission, is available at: http://www.ag.gov.au/agd/WWW/agdhome.nsf/AllDocs/
E63BC2D5203F2D29CA256FF8001584D7?OpenDocument. Submissions on the paper need to be made by 1 July 2005.
3. Copyright Law Review Committee report on Crown Copyright
In April 2005, the Minister for Justice and Customs released the Copyright Law Review Committee's report, Crown Copyright.
The report undertakes a detailed analysis of the scope of Crown copyright, including the meaning of 'the Crown' and the range of material in which government owns copyright. It also considers the history of the Crown copyright provisions and what policy considerations have led to the current legislative regimes in Australia and other common law countries. There is also specific consideration of the Crown's prerogative right in the nature of copyright, specific exceptions to infringement of Crown copyright and a discussion of which government entities should be considered the 'Commonwealth' or 'State'.
The key recommendations of the report are that:
- the special Crown subsistence and ownership provisions in the Copyright Act 1968 should be repealed since government should, as far as possible, be on the same footing as other parties,
- copyright in certain materials produced by the judicial, legislative and executive arms of government be abolished,
- the prerogative rights in the nature of copyright in the right of the Commonwealth and of the States be abolished,
- a non-exhaustive list of entities that are included as part of the ‘Commonwealth’ or a ‘State’ be created to remove uncertainty about the status of certain government entities, and
- the issue of uniformity in the management of Crown copyright across State and Territory Governments be referred to the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General for consideration.
The final report followed consultation carried out by the Committee with key industry stakeholders and State and Territory Governments.
The Government is currently considering the recommendations of the report.
Abolition of Committee
On 20 May 2005, the Attorney-General announced at a copyright consultative forum that, for budgetary reasons, the work of the Copyright Law Review Committee would not continue.
At the forum, the Attorney-General indicated that the Government remained committed to consultation and proposed that there would be similar consultative forums in the future.
4. Visit of WIPO Deputy Director General
On 18 April, Dr Francis Gurry, Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) had meetings in Canberra with the Attorney-General and the Secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department. Dr Gurry is the highest ranking Australian in WIPO. Amidst a busy schedule, he took part in a roundtable at the Department, attended by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, IP Australia and the Australian Government Solicitor. Issues discussed included the impact on negotiations in WIPO of the ‘development agenda’ adopted at the last WIPO General Assembly, the budgetary problems confronting WIPO and the likely future course of current copyright negotiations in WIPO.
5. WIPO broadcasters’ rights treaty
Pursuant to the conclusions of the Chairman of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCRR) at its last meeting, a ‘Second Revised Consolidated Text for a Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations’ has been prepared and is available as document SCCR/12/2 Rev.2 on the WIPO website at http://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/index.html Also available from there is a ‘Working Paper on Alternative and Non-Mandatory Solutions on the Protection in Relation to Webcasting’, which was also prepared pursuant to the SCCRR Chairman’s conclusions and is document SCCR/12/5 Prov. These documents are being considered at regional consultations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Africa and Latin America in May-July. No date has yet been set for the next SCCRR meeting.
6. WIPO launches opportunity for stakeholders to participate in IP Policy debate
The WIPO is hosting an online forum on Intellectual Property in the Information Society - from 1 to 15 June 2005 - at http://www.wipo.int/ipisforum/. The forum provides an opportunity for anybody interested in intellectual property to contribute to the emerging debate on the value of intellectual property in the information society.
The WIPO online forum is designed to encourage an open debate on a number of themes related to intellectual property and the information society in light of the goals of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The themes examine the relationship between the intellectual property system and the information society; including issues of freedom of information and creativity, development goals, cultural diversity and emerging opportunities and challenges for use of intellectual property in the digital environment.
The themes of the forum, background resources and questions relating to each theme are available at http://www.wipo.int/ipisforum/. Anyone can post their comments on the forum until 15 June 2005. Comments are invited on 10 themes:
1. The WSIS Declaration of Principles sets out a vision for the information society – how can the intellectual property system support this vision?
2. The intellectual property system and freedom of expression and creativity: Help or hindrance?
3. The public domain and open access models of information creation: at odds with the intellectual property system or enabled by it?
4. What is the impact of copyright law, both at international and national levels, on education and research?
5. What are the rights and responsibilities of intellectual property rightsholders?
6. Global partnerships to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals: what role for intellectual property?
7. How is intellectual property policy made for the information society: and who makes it?
8. How can cultural and intellectual diversity of traditional communities be respected in the information society?
9. Emerging business models for distributing intellectual property online: opportunity or threat?
10. What are the challenges for enforcement of intellectual property rights in the digital environment?
The conclusions of the online forum will form part of WIPO’s contribution to the WSIS.
7. Copyright Law in Australia: A Short Guide
The Copyright Law Branch produces a booklet entitled Copyright Law in Australia: A Short Guide. The guide covers general questions about copyright law that are frequently asked by members of the public. The guide has been updated following recent amendments to copyright law (Information about the recent amendments was provided in the previous edition of the AGD e-News on Copyright (Issue 35, March 2005).
The updated guide is available at http://www.ag.gov.au/copyright/shortguide
Printed copies of the guide will be available shortly from the Copyright Law Branch, tel: 02 6250 6655.
WHO DO I CONTACT IN THE COPYRIGHT LAW BRANCH?
International and Projects Section
- Co-ordination of work on the implementation of the copyright aspects of the Australia–US Free Trade Agreement
- Australia’s participation in WIPO activities
- Broadcast royalties for sound recordings
- CLRC Report into the Jurisdiction and Procedures of the Copyright Tribunal
- Collective administration of copyright
- Commonwealth copyright
- Ergas Report - Review of intellectual property legislation under the Competition Principles Agreement
- Film directors' rights
- Hague Convention work
- International copyright regulations
- Moral rights
- Performers' rights
- Private copying and fair use issues
- Term of copyright protection
- Statutory licences and related issues
Contact: Chris Creswell, tel: (02) 6250 6312; e-mail: chris.creswellATag.gov.au
New Technologies Section
- Australia-US Free Trade Agreement obligations relating to technological protection measures
- Circuit Layouts Act
- Copyright and designs overlap
- Copyright Tribunal appointments
- Digital Agenda Amendments Review
- E-commerce issues
- CLRC Report on Copyright and Contract
- CLRC Reports into Simplification of the Copyright Act
- Review of Legal Deposit
- Review of Pay TV piracy
Trade and Enforcement Section
- Bilateral and regional copyright issues (including proposed new free trade agreements and APEC work)
- Copyright and trade
- Copyright aspects of other intellectual property legislation
- Enforcement issues
- Government use of copyright
- IP and protection of arts and cultural expressions of Indigenous people
- WTO copyright issues
- Resale royalty
- Review of the criminal offence provisions
Contact: Fiona Phillips, tel (02) 6250 6658, e-mail: fiona.phillipsATag.gov.au
Commonwealth Copyright Section
- ANAO report on Intellectual Property Policy and Practices in Government
- Commonwealth Copyright Administration - http://www.ag.gov.au/cca
- Government practice in management of copyright materials, including copyright in IT systems
Contact: Peter Ostergaard, tel (02) 6250 6380, e-mail: peter.ostergaardATag.gov.au
The head of the Copyright Law Branch is Helen Daniels, Assistant Secretary. Ms Daniels can be contacted on (02) 6250 6313, e-mail: helen.danielsATag.gov.au.
Mr Tim MacKinnon is responsible for copyright matters in the office of the Attorney-General, the Hon Mr Philip Ruddock MP, please phone: (02) 6277 7300.
For general enquiries telephone (02) 6250 6655; fax: (02) 6250 5929; e-mail: copyrightlawbranch@ag.gov.au.
WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT COPYRIGHT?
The Copyright Law Branch website is at: http://www.ag.gov.au/copyright.
The Copyright Law Branch produces a booklet entitled Copyright Law in Australia: A Short Guide. To obtain copies of the guide please phone (02) 6250 6655. The updated version is available online at:
http://www.ag.gov.au/copyright/shortguide.
Past publications including discussion papers and fact sheets on a variety of issues, are also available online at: http://www.ag.gov.au/www/securitylawHome.nsf/AllDocs/
107D174167C51D4FCA256B89000A7F7C?OpenDocument.
The Copyright Law Branch does not give legal advice to members of the public. The Copyright Law Branch can provide federal Government departments and agencies with legal advice on copyright law matters.
Individual creators with a specific copyright inquiry may be able to obtain advice from the Australian Copyright Council tel: 02 9318 1788. See also the Copyright Council website at: http://www.copyright.org.au/.
For information on patents, trade marks and designs contact IP Australia on tel: 1300 651 010 or access information online at: http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/.
Reports of the Copyright Law Review Committee are available at http://www.ag.gov.au/clrc.
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