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Australia To Review Copyright Fair Use

Posted by Unknown on from the prepare-to-be-blacklisted dept.

New submitter freddienumber13 writes "The Australian Government has announced a review of the copyright act to look at the provisions of fair use and exceptions with a view towards considering whether or not the law has kept pace with technology and thus if further provisions are required to ensure the act remains relevant and effective." Don't hold your breath; the committee has until November 30th, 2013 to create their report. Maybe Australians will see their Fair Use rights expanded in a time when it's in fashion to expand copyright protections.

7 of 87 comments (clear)

  1. /. paying for my new keyboard? by Omega+Hacker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe Australians will see their Fair Use rights expanded in a time when it's in fashion to expand copyright protections.

    After spraying my keyboard with Pepsi, I honestly couldn't stop laughing....

    Good luck with that.

    --
    GStreamer - The only way to stream!
  2. Is that so? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Considering past news coming from Australia, I wouldn't be surprised if Fair Use became even more restricted after the review.

    1. Re:Is that so? by xQx · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Stephen Conroy is a douche.

      Never trust an Australian who doesn't drink.

      But we do thank him for the NBN (even if it might mean we will soon have a national debt to rival greece to pay for it).

    2. Re:Is that so? by xQx · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Let me preface this with the statement that I actually support the NBN. It's like building railways in the 1800's or highways in the 1900's. It just makes sense.

      And considering we spend about $4,000 per taxpayer per year on cardiac health-services - I don't give a rats arse what it costs - it makes more sense to spend the money on the NBN than it does to spend it on general government waste (health/military/elections etc.)

      But don't believe everything you read about the Labour government's estimations of finances - they are based on the following "facts":
      1. NBN Co. will have a (compounding) Internal Rate of Return of 7% in an industry that has been declining for the past 10 years.
      A statement that is predicated on the following assumptions:
          2. Most consumers will he happy to get 12M/1M fibre services.
          3. Consumers will keep buying a voice service to go with their data service!
          4. Everybody who buys ADSL or ADSL2+ now will be happy to spend at least as much on NBN services (even though the NBN is effeciently being overbuilt by Telstra 4G that meets the needs of most consumers today).
          5. Even though NBN Co only made $356,000 of their estimated $3,000,000 profit in 2012, the finances are still right on track.

      And finally the last MOTHER of an assumption:
      6. The NBN will only cost $27bn.

      So to answer your question of: How on earth can you describe 3% profit as sending Australia into debt?

      Well, I think our current Labour government are a lying sack of bastards, and the only person in that party who could organise a root in a brothel is no longer a member of the party because that's exactly what they did!

  3. Yeah, no. by Sasayaki · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As an Australian and as a rights holder (who supports CC, fair use, fanfiction, parody/satire, etc) who sees the constant encroachment of the MPAA/RIAA/etc into our legal system, this is only going one way.

    Away from expanding Fair Use. Which is a shame.

    --
    Check out my sci-fi book "Lacuna" at http://goo.gl/MVxX8
  4. Posing the question is giving the answer. by Capsaicin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Good luck with that.

    You're new to this government thing, aren't you? In all the decades you have been reading ALRC reports, or the reports of other government appointed inquiries for that matter, when have you ever read "everything is OK as it is, and we have no recommendations?"

    Read between the lines of the terms of reference. The ALRC has been asked to "to consider whether existing exceptions are appropriate and whether further exceptions should recognise fair use of copyright material ..." Are existing exceptions anywhere near appropriate, say in ensuring "fair use" such as it might be understood in the US? ALRC is going to have hard time answering that in the affirmative! The further exceptions they are being asked to devise should you know. And they will ...

    This is another step towards harmonising our law with that of the US and for a change from all the punitive harmonisations, this will introduce some small measure of freedom. It is well known that the government has for some time wanted to introduce some kind of fair use provision into Australian copyright law. Just don't expect an overly broad one.

    --
    Better to be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident a security. --Edmund Burke
  5. ya right by Charliemopps · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How much do you want to bet their conclusions are that "Fair use" is an outdated concept and should be eliminated all together? Seems like a far more likely outcome than anything beneficial.