Report to the Government 2.0 Taskforce : Project 4 - Copyright Law and Intellectual Property

Abstract

This report is the primary output of Project 4: Copyright and Intellectual Property, the aim of which was to produce a report considering how greater access to and use of government information could be achieved within the scope of the current copyright law.

In our submission for Project 4, we undertook to address:

• the policy rationales underlying copyright and how they apply in the context of materials owned, held and used by government;

• the recommendations of the Copyright Law Review Committee (CLRC) in its 2005 report on Crown copyright;

• the legislative and regulatory barriers to information sharing in key domains, including where legal impediments such as copyright have been relied upon (whether rightly or wrongly) to justify a refusal to provide access to government data;

• copyright licensing models appropriate to government materials and examples of licensing initiatives in Australia and other relevant jurisdictions; and

• issues specific to the galleries, libraries, archives and museums (“GLAM”) sector, including management of copyright in legacy materials and “orphan” works.

In addressing these areas, we analysed the submissions received in response to the Government 2.0 Taskforce Issues Paper, consulted with members of the Task Force as well as several key stakeholders and considered the comments posted on the Task Force’s blog.

This Project Report sets out our findings on the above issues. It puts forward recommendations for consideration by the Government 2.0 Task Force on steps that can be taken to ensure that copyright and intellectual property promote access to and use of government information.