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May 5, 2005
Australia Considers Codifying Fair Use
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Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock has just released an issues paper on "fair dealing, fair use and other exceptions in the digital age" in order to solicit opinions on whether Australia's Copyright Act should include additional specific exceptions to copyright or a broad "fair use" exception. Among the questions under consideration: whether Australia should recognize "format-shifting" and back-up copying as fair dealing/fair use.
As longtime Copyfight readers may remember, Kim Weatherall has been following the story closely over @ Weatherall's Law; here's a guided tour through some of her previous thinking on the future of digital rights in Australia: Australia's DMCA - The Bad News about the Good News.
Comments (2)
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1. Scote on May 5, 2005 12:15 PM writes...
Boy, Australia could really use some Fair Use rights. Australia is one of the countries where ripping an ordinary CD to iTunes or your iPod is clearly illegal--which is ridiculous.
(Of course, in the US under the DMCA, ripping an ordinary DVD to your computer or portable device...)
Permalink to Comment2. Keep it simple on May 15, 2005 10:02 AM writes...
Now, if they can only keep it simple.
I propose this:
1. Rename "fair use" to "freedom to use and copy". The words "fair use" are misleading and confusing. I have never heard an explanation as to whom "fair use" is fair for, the user, the copier, or the owner of the copyrights.
2. Allow all digital copying as long as the original author's name, if known, is included, the copyright expiration date, if known, is specified, no sale (or exchange of value) is made, no ads or publicity is used to propagate copies and the copy is used only privately or for non profit education.
Any pretension to make digital fair use anything other than a "freedom to use and copy" is doomed to fail because what people do privately with home computers cannot be controlled and stopped by law even if it is made illegal. Just look at the history of politics, religion, classes, literature, art, philosophy, printing press, journalism, etc., where all sorts of activities and ideas that went against the establishement (the righteous ones) were outlawed and punished, all to no avail.
The chance of sucess now for the "righteous ones" is even slimmer, because digital copying can be costless, extremely fast and stealthy.
Rafael Venegas
Permalink to Commenthttp://www.gvenegas.com