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Flexible Dealing handbook

Following on from the 2007 ALCC Copyright Training Sessions, a number of examples where s200AB might be of use to libraries, archives, galleriesand educational institutions have been collected together to form the bulk of the handbook.

The Handbook begins with a background to the new provision, and an outline of how we believe each of the steps of the provision should be approached by institutions. We then work through a number of possible scenarios to illustrate how s200AB might work in practice. The online version of the handbook is now available here (under CC license of course).

Our guidelines on the Guidelines

Together with the Australian Digitial Alliance, the Australian Libraries Copyright Committee has produced some further information on the Attorney General's Guidelines on applying to be prescribed as a "key cultural institution. They're available here. Hopefully organisations thinking about applying to be prescribed will find this document useful.

This document is provided as information only and should not be relied upon as legal advice.

 

Guidelines on the prescription of "Key Cultural Institutions"

Currently only instututions such as the state and national libraries are able to take advantage of the preservation provisions contained in sections 51B, 110BA and 112AA Copyright Act 1968, introduced at the end of 2006.

The Attorney-General's Department has just released its guidelines on the kinds of factors it will consider when deciding whether to prescribe other libraries or archives as "key cultural institutions". If prescribed, the library or archive can then take advantage of these new preservation provisions. Key considerations taken into account are whether the library or archives hold material that is of historical or cultural significance to Australia, and whether this material is accessible to the public for research and study purposes.

The guidelines are available here. They also contain further information and examples on how the preservation provisions work.

Review of Format-Shifting Exceptions

The Attorney-General's Department has released an Issues Paper relating to the format shifting provisions that allow individuals to format shift their photoes and films (Sections 47J and 110AA Copyright Act 1968).

The purpose of the paper is to invite submissions on whether sections 47J and 110AA are operating satisfactorily or whether either provision should be modified in some way.

Submissions are invited from interested parties. The closing date for submissions is 29 February 2008. The issues paper is available here.

Review of Collecting Societies Code of Conduct

The Collecting Societies Code of Conduct must be reviewed every three years, and is due for review in early 2008. The notification of the review is available here, and the current Code of Conduct can be viewed here.

If you wish to make an oral or written submissions relating to the content of the Code, and perhaps make suggestions for changes to the code, you should be aware of these deadlines:

  • 28 Jan: Must notify of intention to make an oral submission
  • 4 Feb: Oral submissions 9.30am - 4.00pm in Sydney
  • 29 Feb: Written submissions due.

ALCC Copyright Session Powerpoints

The Australian Libraries Copyright Committe has just completed this year's 'copyright roadshow'. Laura Simes, copyright advisor for the ALCC visted all the capital cities to provide free copyright training sessions for members of the ALCC. The sessions were very well attended, and poplulated with lots of interesting comments and questions from librarians and archivists. The powerpoints for the sessions are now available here:

These powerpoints are provided as information only and should not be relied upon as legal advice. If you need legal advice you should speak to your lawyer.

 

Legal Deposit Discussion Paper

The Attorney-General's Department has released a Legal Deposit discussion paper, available here. The legal deposit scheme currently only provides for paper-based publications to be deposited with the National Library of Australia. The Department is calling for comments on the feasibility of extending the current legal deposit scheme to include audiovisual and electronic materials.

Comments are due 11 January 2008.

ADA Board Member Kim Weatherall has posted some comments on this at Lawfont.com here and here.

Privacy Review

The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has released a discussion paper reviewing Australian privacy law. It’s available here, and is quite a substantial read at just under 2000 pages. Paragraphs 6.95 and 6.96 consider the effect of DRM (Digital Rights Management) technologies on privacy, noting that in many cases DRMs not only prevent copying, but also collect personal information about the user.

The ALRC is calling for submissions and comments on the paper by 7 December.

Copyright Training Sessions

At the last Committee meeting, the ALCC agreed on the importance of being able to help members to come to terms with the 2006 copyright amendments.

The ALCC is currently in the process of planning copyright training sessions across Australia in September/October for its members. Our initial plan is to run a morning and afternoon session in the capital cities, and then, dependant on member interest, to run sessions at other towns. The first session will be an introduction to copyright, with a brief summary of the 2006 amendments. The second session will examine the 2006 amendments in detail, with a focus on what the amendments mean for staff and users in libraries & archives.

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The Committee

The ALCC is the main consultative body and policy forum for the discussion of copyright issues affecting Australian libraries and archives. It is a cross-sectoral committee with representatives from the following organisations:

We consider the impact of copyright law reform on Australian libraries and archives and provide advice to the Federal Government on how to maintain a balance between reasonable access to creative works for copyright users on the one hand and an incentive for copyright creators and owners on the other.

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Contact Details

Matt Dawes
Copyright Adviser
ph +61 2 6262 1273
fax +61 2 6273 2545

For answers to frequently asked questions relating to copyright and libraries, please contact the Australian Library & Information Association (ALIA)