This issue may interest some of you. Danny. ----- Forwarded message from Nick Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ----- Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2001 12:09:04 +1000 From: Nick Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'[EMAIL PROTECTED]'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [LINK] Copyright vs Contracts: the Copyright Law Review Committee X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) Dear Linkers As copyright material is increasingly made available in digital media, the issue of the relationship between the copyright law and contract law has become more and more important. Digital material is frequently subject to licence agreements that override the public's right to use material in ways that are guaranteed by exceptions in the Copyright Act. It has been suggested that contract law will one day come to wholly replace copyright law, with the rules governing the use of information set unilaterally by the vendor rather than by Parliament. This could mean that many of the rights that the public hold dear such as the right to borrow or lend material, to make fair dealing copies, to sell copies or even to read, may ultimately be lost. And this process will only be exacerbated by the use of technological protection systems such as encyrption as a further level of protection. The COPYRIGHT LAW REVIEW COMMITTEE, an independent Government advisory body which is asked by the Government to look at specific copyright matters, is currently examining the question of copyright vs contract. The terms of reference and an issues paper can be found here: http://www.law.gov.au/clrc/pres_ref/what_Committee_doing.htm Submissions from the public are now invited and must be lodged with the CLRC no later than 10 August 2001. I encourage you to make a submission on this important issue which will may well have an impact on how we gain access to and use information in this country for some time to come. [And BTW, on a related note, see also the interesting articles in the Australian Financial review on 16 and 18 June, pages 28 and 53, respectively] Nick -- ========================================================= Nick Smith Executive Officer :: Australian Digital Alliance Copyright Advisor :: Australian Libraries Copyright Committee PO Box E202 \\ Kingston ACT 2604 Ph: 02 6262 1273 \\ Fax: 02 6273 2545 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] \\ Web: www.digital.org.au ========================================================= ----- End forwarded message ----- -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
