Associations and institutions are welcome to apply to become members of the ALCC.
10 Oct 2017
Proposed extensions to the prescribed acts for which circumvention of a TPM may be undertaken are good for disability access, libraries and schools.
The Australian Libraries Copyright Committee (ALCC) and the Australian Digital Alliance (ADA) made a joint submission to the Department of Communications and the Arts in response to their Review of Copyright Regulations 1969 and the Copyright Tribunal (Procedure) Regulations 1969.
The ALCC and the ADA provided comments on the exposure drafts of both Regulations.
We applaud the new technical protection measures (TPM) exceptions for disability access, library use, and schools working within the statutory licence or section 200AB, but petitioned for additional TPM exceptions for libraries working under section 200AB and others using the fair dealing provision. We also suggest some minor changes to the notice requirements for libraries and archives.
About the Regulations
From the Department of Communications and the Arts’s Review of Copyright Regulations 1969 and the Copyright Tribunal (Procedure) Regulations 1969 web page:
The Copyright Regulations 2017 will replace the Copyright Regulations 1969 and the Copyright Tribunal (Procedure) Regulations 1969, which are due to sunset (expire) on 1 April 2018.
A draft of the Copyright Legislation Amendment (Technological Protection Measures) Regulations 2017 has also been developed to update the exceptions in the current regulations that allow consumers to bypass a Technological Protection Measure (TPM). Examples include a password or software that controls access to copyright content.
Both updated regulations will also incorporate changes following the successful June 2017 passage of the Copyright Amendment (Disability Access and Other Measures) Act 2017.
About the Consultation
On Monday 11 September 2017 the Department of Communications and the Arts announced it was consulting on exposure drafts of the Copyright Regulations 2017 and the Copyright Legislation Amendment (Technological Protection Measures) Regulations 2017 which would replace the Copyright Regulations 1969 and the Copyright Tribunal (Procedure) Regulations 1969.
As part of this consultation the Department released a Consultation Paper.
Submissions closed on Friday 6 October 2017.
The Regulations
The Copyright Regulations 2017 commenced on Friday 22 December 2017, except for the TPM provision (section 40) which commenced on Sunday 1 April 2018.
Download our submission
You can download our submission as a Portable Document File (PDF).