Net Notes: The Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement

The Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement will make significant changes to copyright law, particularly in the extension of the length of time that works remain copyrighted, and thus is of importance, if not interest, to librarians. There has been much commentary and argument on the subject of the agreement so in order to keep this column to a reasonable length I have focused on the basics - the agreement itself, the enabling legislation, the official reports, and a few fact sheets and commentaries.

Text of the Free Trade Agreement
Draft (8 February 2004)
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/usafta/treaties/niaandannexes.pdf Final text [Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade] (3 June 2004)
http://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/negotiations/us_fta/final-text/index.html

US Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act 2004 [No. 120, 2004]
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/num_act/uftaia2004n1202004390/

Fact sheets/guides
These are produced by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The fact sheets are very brief but the guide to the FTA is 135 pages, a reflection on the complexity of the agreement.

Guide to the Agreement (6 March 2004)
http://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/negotiations/us_fta/guide/index.html
AUS-FTA at a Glance
http://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/negotiations/us_fta/fact_sheets/ausfta_at_a_glance.pdf
Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement Fact Sheets (6 March 2004)
http://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/negotiations/us_fta/outcomes/index.html

Inquiries
Senate Select Committee inquiry into the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement

Submissions to the Senate Select Committee inquiry into the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement
Australian Library and Information Association
http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/submissions/free.trade.html

Joint submission by the ALCC and ADA to Senator the Hon Helen Coonan in relation to Fair Use and the AUSFTA
Joint submission by the ALCC and ADA to the Hon Philip Ruddock MP in relation to Fair Use and the AUSFTA
Both available from the ALCC and ADA websites:
Australian Libraries Copyright Committee
http://www.digital.org.au/alcc/submissions.html
Australian Digital Alliance
http://www.digital.org.au/submission/submission.htm

All 548 submissions available from: http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/freetrade_ctte/submissions/sublist.htm

Senate Select Committee on the Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the United States of America
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/freetrade_ctte/index.htm

Summary of Inquiry on the Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the United States of America (2 August 2004)
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/freetrade_ctte/report/summary/index.htm Interim Report on the Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the United States of America (24 June 2004)
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/freetrade_ctte/report/interim/index.htm

Final Report on the Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the United States of America (5 August 2004)
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/freetrade_ctte/report/final/index.htm

Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) inquiry
Submissions to the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) inquiry into the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement

Australian Library and Information Association
http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy/submissions/jscot.html
All 214 submissions available from: http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/usafta/subs.htm

Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT)
Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement
http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/usafta/
Includes links to the report, media releases, terms of reference, submissions, and public hearings.

Report http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/jsct/usafta/report/front.pdf

Parliamentary publications
Arguing with a Friend: Dispute resolution under AUSFTA Research Note 14 (2004-05)
http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rn/2004-05/05rn14.pdf

Guide to copyright and patent law changes in the US Free Trade Agreement Implementation Bill 2004 Current Issues Brief 3 (2004-05)
http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/CIB/2004-05/05cib03.pdf

Intellectual property rights and the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement Research Paper 14 (2003-04)
http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rp/2003-04/04rp14.htm

Miscellaneous
Office of the United States Trade Representative
http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/Australia_FTA/Section_Index.html
Home page for information on the FTA from an American perspective.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
http://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/negotiations/us.html
Home page for information on the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement.

Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee media release
Intellectual Property Issues and the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement
http://www.avcc.edu.au/content.asp?page=/news/media_releases/2004/avcc_media_30_04.htm

'The Economic and Cultural Impacts of the Free Trade Agreement Provisions relating to Copyright and Patent Law - draft background paper' [Roger Clarke]
http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/II/FTA17.html

Intellectual Property and the AU-USA Free Trade Agreement 2004 [Electronic Frontiers Australia]
http://www.efa.org.au/Issues/IP/#fta
Links to parliamentary reports and other commentary on the FTA as well as EFA submissions and papers on the subject.

Camille Peters

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