EFA cautiously welcomes action on fair use; calls for halt on ISP copyright code

Cost-benefit analysis of fair use exception EFA today cautiously welcomes last week’s announcement from the Attorney-General that he has requested an analysis of the costs and benefits involved in the introduction of a broad, flexible fair use exception into Australian copyright law. The introduction of a broad, flexible fair use exception was recommended by the […]

Forced negotiations and industry codes won’t stop illegal downloads

This article, by Nicolas Suzor and Eleanor Angel from Queensland University of Technology was originally published on The Conversation on 11th December 2014. Attorney-General George Brandis and Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced yesterday that they expect internet service providers (ISPs) to work with copyright owners to help police infringement. ISPs will have to agree to a […]

Blocking piracy websites is bad for Australia’s digital future

This article, by Dan Hunter, from Swinburne University of Technology, was originally published at The Conversation. See the original article Rumours are flying that the government will introduce legislation before Christmas aimed at blocking certain websites, such as The Pirate Bay and Kickass Torrents, as part of a range of efforts to reduce copyright infringement […]

Data Retention a boon for Copyright Trolls

As AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin confirmed to a press conference in Canberra yesterday, mandatory data retention will include data that will enable copyright holders to chase people they believe have infringed their copyright. Communications Minister Turnbull tried to play this down, saying, “They do this pretty much in real-time, so the two year holding of data […]

Individual Copyright Submissions

Submissions for the Government’s Copyright Infringement Discussion Paper closed at the start of the month. The Attorney-General’s department has arbitrarily decided to publish only the submissions written by organisations and not those from individual Australians. We know that many of you contributed, answering questions and offering critique and are probably disappointed that the Government has […]