Changes to Copyright Act proposed
December 23, 2015
The Federal Government has released an ‘exposure draft’ of the Copyright Amendment (Disability Access and Other Measures) Bill 2016 for public comment.
The Bill seeks to:
- streamline the educational statutory licence provisions to make it easier for educational institutions and copyright collecting societies to agree on licensing arrangements for copyright material
- provide simple, clear rules for libraries, archives and key cultural institutions to make preservation copies of copyright material
- align the terms of protection for unpublished works with published works to give libraries, archives and other cultural institutions greater opportunities to use, and provide public access to, unpublished works, and
- ensure that search engines, universities and libraries have ‘safe harbour’ protection if they comply with conditions aimed at reducing online copyright infringement.
The Department of Communications is asking for submissions from interested stakeholders. Submissions close on 12 February 2016.