Both the Australian Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, and the Secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department, Roger Wilkins, addressed the 2011 Copyright Symposium, held at the Australian Maritime Museum on October 13-14
Speaking at a Symposium session entitled Who’s Responsible?, the Secretary articulated the role of the Government in relation to the “important property right” of copyright as being: “to properly define it and to properly protect it”
The Secretary added that regulators were “severely challenged” in developing effective ways to safeguard intellectual property and, therefore, were relying on contribution from industry in the form of innovative business models providing incentives for consumers to pay for legitimate online content, as well as technologies that enable protection of content. The Government’s role would be one of: • facilitation of industry measures to protect copyright • advocacy on behalf of consumers in relation to industry code/s for protection • education of the public in relation to copyright The Attorney-General announced that his department would soon be releasing draft terms of reference for a review of Australian copyright law by the Australian Law Reform Commission. For a transcript of the Attorney-General’s speech, click on the link below: http://www.attorneygeneral.gov.au/www/ministers/mcclelland.nsf/Page/Speeches_2011_FourthQuarter_14October2011-KeynoteAddressto15thBiennialCopyrightSymposium To read more about this story go to: http://www.copyright.org.au/news-and-policy/details/id/2017/ For inquiries relating to publishing and copyright law please contact Adam Simpson