ALIA copyright service: the digital agenda
Support the ALCC's response to the Bill
ALIA has written to the Government, the Shadow Ministry and the Democrats urging them to support the Australian Libraries Copyright Committee's (ALCC) responses to the Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Bill 1999 ( the Digital Agenda Bill).
Your support for the library community's response is crucial. You may be aware that since the release of the Bill, copyright owners have been calling on the Government to rethink its policy to provide exceptions for libraries to copy and make available small amounts of digital material for library users. ALCC has made two submission to Government on the Digital Agenda Bill. The first response reiterates the library community's position on the Bill and suggests areas where the Government may be able to more effectively implement its stated policy. The second response was was drafted to provide further information to assist the government to address concerns in relation to the operation of the Bill from copyright owner interests.
You are encouraged to write to your local member expressing support for the ALCC's responses to the Bill. You should also include examples of how any reversal in the Government's policy to provide free copying exceptions for libraries in the digital environment will impact on your libraries ability to deliver services.
Background information
Key points from the ALCC supplementary submission in response to copyright owner concerns:
- The Current Balance - library copying does not have extremely prejudicial economic effects on copyright owners
- The Digital Agenda Bill does not extend the scope of the exceptions
- The Digital Agenda Bill will not bring about an increase in copying levels libraries
Summary of concerns
Summary of the concerns raised by the Copyright Agency Ltd (CAL) and the Australian Copyright Council (ACC) in response to the library copying proposals in the Digital Agenda Bill. (See paras 34 to 47 of the ALCC's supplementary submission for the Committee's response to these arguments).
- s49 and s50
- 'Allowing a library to digitise a work could enable a library to add to their collection by building up a database of works scanned in response to requests under ss 49 and 50'. (ACC submission pg 6)
- A digital copy is far more valuable to a client than a photocopy (ACC submission pg 6)
- The Digital Agenda Bill will allow libraries to set up in competition with on-line publishers for the supply of articles and portions of works. (ACC Submission pg 6 and CAL Submission para 48)
- The profit tests focusing on the intention or otherwise are ineffective. In particular, Government should not require copyright owners to subsidise the cost recovery activities of non-profit entities. (CAL Submission para 36)
- An article in a periodical publication is a whole work and will be the unit supplied to the market by copyright owners in the future. (CAL Submission para 41 and ACC Submission pg2)
- ... a library could also use a circumvention device to access an article made available by the copyright owner on-line and download and email that article to antoher library that wants it for their collection. The client library could then reciprocate so that both libraries have a copy. (ACC Submission, pgs 8 and 15)
- Preservation provisions
- The ACC oppose the extension of the provisions allowing libraries and archives to reproduce copyright material for purposes preservation and collection management (ACC Submission pg 9)
- Proposed changes to s51A(2)(a) will allow libraries to digitise and make their entire collections available to users. (CAL Submission para 136)
- The effect of s 51A(2) (b) is that a library could make available online on its premises any work held in its collection (presumably if it is already in digital form) including those works it had digitised for clients under s49 and s 50. (ACC Submission pg 10)
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