ALIA copyright service: the digital agenda

Digital Agenda Bill available for public comment

The Attorney General Daryl Williams and Senator Richard Alston, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts jointly released the draft Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Bill on 26 February for public comment. The exposure draft implements Australia's international treaty obligations under the World Intellectual Property Organisation's (WIPO) Copyright Treaty and Performances and Phonograms Treaty. The Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Bill was foreshadowed in the Government's decision in April 1998 to update Australia's copyright regulatory framework to respond to new communication technology such as the internet. The Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Bill has been released as an exposure draft for public comment. The closing date for submissions was 19 March 1999.

Digital Agenda Copyright amendments

The Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Bill 1999 has finally been released for public comment. Unfortunately there is not much time to comment on the draft Bill as the Government would like to introduce the Bill to parliament in the Autumn sittings. The closing date for making submissions is 19 March 1999.

It is anticipated that groups of experts will be convened to consult on key areas of the Bill which are likely to attract substantial public comment. These are the exceptions, technological protection measures and carriers and carriage service providers (for example ISP) liability. The Bill is available at http://law.gov.au/agd/criminal_justice/securitylaw/copyright_enews/issue11.html#leg3 and http://www.dcita.gov.au. Hardcopies may be obtained from the Attorney General's Department (ph 02 6250 6655) and the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (ph 02 6271 1574)

The Digital Agenda Copyright Amendments follows the Government's announcement in April 1998 to introduce its package of digital agenda reforms. Prior to making this announcement, the Government released a discussion paper in July 1997 essentially canvassing a proposed legislative scheme to address the challenges of protecting copyright in the online environment and to seek communtiy opinon on whether Australia should become a party to the two World Intellectual Property Treaties (WIPO) Treaties adopted in December 1996 and whether Australia should enact legislation to implement these treaties.

The draft Digital Agenda Copyright Amendment Bill has been drafted to comply with international copyright standards adopted in the WIPO Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty in 1996. The WIPO Treaties adopt international copyright standards which specifically apply to copyright protection in the online arena.

Needless to say, the Copyight Amendment (Digital Agenda) Bill represents the most significant revision to the Copyright Act 1968 since its enactment.