Hi! Thanks for another question.
Since you said that a paragraph or two would be enough as a format for
the answer, I will provide small snippets again from the articles I
found, but as always it would be advisable for you to read the
articles in their entirety.
Copyright Articles:
Software:
“Parallel importation of software into Australia is now permitted
under changes to the Copyright Act 1968 that were passed by Federal
Parliament on 27 March 2003.”
“The Copyright Amendment (Parallel Importation) Act 2003 removes a
copyright owner’s right to prevent the commercial importation and
distribution of legitimate computer programs and computer games. The
Act also allows the importation of ‘enhanced CDs’ which are sound
recordings that include other copyright material such as video clips.
The Government claims that some Australian rights holders are
preventing the importation of sound recordings, for which parallel
importation restrictions were lifted in 1998, by relying on the
secondary material included with the recording. The new provisions do
not apply to feature films made for public exhibition, broadcast or
sale or rental to the public.”
“Restrictions lifted on parallel importation of software; enforcement
provisions strengthened”
http://www.copyright.org.au/PDF/Articles/A03n04.pdf
Indigenous artist rights:
“Senator Aden Ridgeway of the Australian Democrats party has made some
proposals concerning the application of moral rights to Indigenous
artists and communities, and the duration of copyright in artistic
works created by Albert Namatjira, one of Australia’s most famous
Indigenous artists. This proposal was made in the context of
continuing debate over protection of the rights and interests of
Indigenous artists in Australia.”
“The proposals are part of a wider acknowledgement that elements of
Australian law on copyright and moral rights do not accommodate
specific features of traditional Indigenous laws on cultural
knowledge, practices and artworks.”
“Call for law reform for Indigenous artists”
http://www.copyright.org.au/PDF/Articles/A03n03.pdf
Music:
“A number of collecting societies and arts industry organisations have
combined to put forward a proposal that a royalty be charged on sale
of blank recording devices, and the Copyright Act be amended to
introduce a right of ‘private copying’.”
“The proposed royalties would be charged on “recordable media” such as
audio or
video cassettes, recordable CDs or recordable DVDs, but excluding
computer hard
drives. Under the proposed scheme, the Copyright Act would be amended
to allow
purchasers of recordable items to reproduce copyright material on
those items
without infringing copyright. The licence would apply to the
recordable items
themselves, and could therefore be transferred by the purchaser.”
“New proposal for private copying and ‘blank tape’ royalties”
http://www.copyright.org.au/PDF/Articles/A03n02.pdf
“The first issue you need to be aware of is that the composer will not
always be the right person to talk to insofar as all of the copyright
issues are concerned. For example, if the composer has a publisher,
You may need to talk some of the issues through with that publisher
(generally, the publisher will control reproduction rights and the
right to make arrangements of their composers work).”
“You also need to be aware that copyright can be dealt with by way of
assignment of the relevant rights (in which case you would become the
new owner of all or part of the copyright), or for a licence (that is,
a permission to use the work in particular ways). If a licence is to
be negotiated, you should be aware that licences can be either
exclusive or non-exclusive licence.”
“Off the Air Using Music in Films”
http://www.copyright.org.au/PDF/Articles/A02n16.pdf
Overlap Designs:
“A Bill for new designs legislation, the Designs Bill 2002, was
introduced into
Parliament on 11 December 2002. Another Bill, the Designs
(Consequential Amendments) Bill 2002, that amends the
designs/copyright overlap provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 was
introduced at the same time.”
“The area of designs/copyright overlap has always been complex and
somewhat
problematic. Drawings and prototypes of functional items may be both
“artistic
works” for the purposes of the Copyright Act and “designs” for the
purposes of the current Designs Act. The broad policy adopted in
Australia is that the Designs Act is the more appropriate form of
legal protection for the shape and appearance of functional articles.”
“Changes to designs/copyright overlap”
http://www.copyright.org.au/PDF/Articles/A03n01.pdf
Photocopying:
“Most Australian publishers view the remuneration they receive from
photocopying
licence schemes as important to their businesses and account for it in
their
revenue projections. This is one of the findings in a report
commissioned by
Copyright Agency Limited (CAL). Australia’s copyright collecting
society
representing authors and publishers.”
“Educational publishers are the most affected by the photocopying of
their material, and there appears to be a direct link between the use
by educational institutions of course packs (collections of
photocopied material) and a decrease in revenue from sales of
publications.”
“It appears that most publishers are concerned about the protection of
their
material online and many perceive current copyright law to be
inadequate. (Under
Australian copyright law educational institutions, libraries and
government are
able to make and communicate digital copies of material in certain
circumstances.”
“The impact of photocopying and collecting society distributions on
the Australian publishing industry”
http://www.copyright.org.au/PDF/Articles/A02n12.pdf
Copyright Contract:
“The Copyright Law Review Committee has published its report Copyright
and
Contract (Commonwealth of Australia, 2002), in which it recommends
sweeping
changes to the law to prevent contracts between copyright owners and
users from
excluding fair dealing and other provisions of the Copyright Act.”
“The Committee was asked to report on matters relating to the
“appropriate
balance” between owners and users of copyright. In particular, the
reference
addresses the extent to which in practice contracts licensing
electronic material exclude legislative provisions that would
otherwise permit people to use the material; and whether such
agreements should be enforceable. The Committee commenced work on the
reference in April 2001.”
“Recommendations on Copyright and Contract”
http://www.copyright.org.au/PDF/Articles/A02n11.pdf
Visual Artists:
“The Myer Inquiry has recommended that the Government introduce a
resale
royalty "arrangement" for visual artists and craft practitioners. It
has also
recommended that a tender be conducted to determine an appropriate
body to
administer the arrangement, and that the Government allocate $250 000
for the
development of an implementation strategy.”
“The Inquiry’s Report notes that the introduction of a resale royalty
would provide a substantial benefit to the visual arts and craft
sector. Estimates provided in the Report indicate that, on 1999-2000
sales within Australia alone, at a rate of 5%, some $AU6.75 million
might be realised. In addition, resale royalties would be payable
under reciprocal arrangements with other jurisdictions, such as the
European Union.”
“Report of the Contemporary Visual Arts and Craft Inquiry”
http://www.copyright.org.au/PDF/Articles/A02n10.pdf
Broadcast Copyright Case:
“Two of Australia’s leading commercial television station networks
have been
engaged in litigation relating to the re-use of television footage
from one network (Channel Nine) in a light-hearted current affairs
programme entitled The Panel on another (Channel Ten). As reported in
112 Copyright World at 3, at first instance Ten was held not to have
used any “substantial part” of any broadcast by Nine, and therefore
not to have infringed Nine’s broadcast copyright. While it was not
necessary for him to do so, the judge at first instance also discussed
whether the fair dealing defences of reporting news or criticism or
review were available to Ten. Conti J concluded that, had he been
required to do so, he would have rejected the application of either
defence to almost half of the excerpts of Nine which were incorporated
into The Panel.”
“Appeal decision in broadcast copyright case”
http://www.copyright.org.au/PDF/Articles/A02n08.pdf
Telephone Directories:
“The Full Federal Court of Australia has unanimously upheld a decision
by a single judge of the Court that copyright subsists in telephone
directories produced by the telecommunications carrier, Telstra
Corporation Limited. The Full Court (Black CJ, Lindgren and Sackville
JJ) also agreed with the trial judge that Telstra’s copyright in its
White Pages and Yellow Pages directories was infringed by a company
that produced CD ROM products containing information it had taken from
the directories.”
“Appeal court upholds protection for telephone directories”
http://www.copyright.org.au/PDF/Articles/A02n07.pdf
If you want additional articles regarding copyright issues in
Australia, you can get them in our next link.
Australian Copyright Center
http://www.copyright.org.au/articles/index.htm
----------------------
Patents:
“A controversial patent claim that could force Australian businesses
to pay millions in royalty fees to conduct business over the Internet
has been caught at the eleventh hour.”
“The deputy commissioner of patents, Janet Werner, said administrator
IP Australia was preparing to seal the patent, but received an
application to extend a cooling-off period in which interested parties
are given the opportunity to challenge a submission.”
“Australia stalls bid to patent e-commerce”
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/0,39020645,2137618,00.htm
“Earlier this year Australia signed a bilateral agreement with Taiwan
to recognise priority claims for patent and trade mark filings.
Within the last fortnight Taiwan has made the necessary amendments to
their law to implement the agreement (Australia made the changes
months ago). I'm pretty sure that Australia is the only country that
recognises Taiwan patents as a priority document and I'm sure that
Australian patents are the only priority document recognised by
Taiwan.”
Australia – Taiwan Patent Agreement
http://www.ibiblio.org/patents/txt/111894.txt
“The Australian Government has announced that as from 1 July 1995 a 20
year term will apply to all standard patents whose 16 year term would
end on or after 1 July 1995, and to all patents granted from that
date.”
“Australia to adopt 20 year patent term”
http://www.ibiblio.org/patents/txt/092894.txt
-------------------------
Trademarks:
“Australia is set to join the international trademark registration
system, providing significant benefits for Australian companies whose
goods and services are marketed overseas and for foreign companies
doing business in Australia.”
“Applicants, whose main business is conducted in countries that are
members of the Madrid Protocol "club" can take advantage of this
International trademark system. Members countries that have acceded to
the multilateral treaty include the UK, France, Germany, Italy,
Sweden, Singapore and Japan. The US is expected to join in about a
year.”
“Trademarks & Brands”
http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:wTlpYWdPvlAJ:www.wptn.com/tmrk_001_apr01.htm+trademark+laws+news+Australia&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
“Registering a domain name in Australia is a painful and Byzantine
process that involves dealing with two separate organisations, The
Department of Fair Trading and a registrar, the former which still
makes you line up and justify yourself to an indifferent bureaucrat.”
“Few were happy with this situation, but the recent decision by auDA,
the new domain authority, to stage a public auction of this restricted
list, rather than settle claims on the basis of global trademark laws,
is likely to come under intense scrutiny. In essence, auDA's position
is that allocation to the highest bidder is OK, as long as the bidder
can conceivably make a claim to be related to that name.”
“AU: The Game of the Name”
http://www.isp-planet.com/hosting/2002/au_020211.html
Search terms used:
Copyright patents trademark laws news Australia
I hope these links would help you in your research as well. Before
rating this answer, please ask for a clarification if you have a
question or if you would need further information.
Thanks for visiting us.
Regards,
Easterangel-ga
Google Answers Researcher |
