Updating Australia's copyright laws

Currently, libraries, archives and educational institutions face difficulties in making legitimate use of copyright material because of outdated, prescriptive and overly complex legislation.

Reforms to the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) and related regulations are needed to ensure these institutions and the Australian community can reasonably access content.

The changes are designed to:

• Streamline the educational statutory licence provisions, making it easier and simpler for educational institutions and copyright collecting societies to agree on licensing arrangements for the copying and communication of copyright material.

• Provide simple, clear rules for libraries, archives and key cultural institutions to make preservation copies of copyright material. 

• Align the terms of protection for unpublished works with those for published works to provide libraries, archives and other cultural institutions with greater opportunities to use, and provide public access, to unpublished works. 

• Ensure that search engines, universities and libraries have ‘safe harbour’ protection if they comply with conditions aimed at reducing online copyright infringement.