'The Australia-US Free Trade Agreement's Impact on Australia's Copyright Trade Policy' by Kimberlee G. Weatherall in (2015) 69(5)
Australian Journal of International Affairs 538-558
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The Australia-US Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) required extensive changes to Australian copyright law. This paper assesses the impact of these changes one decade on. It considers, first, whether the costs and/or benefits predicted in 2004 have eventuated, finding clear evidence that AUSFTA has undesirably constrained domestic copyright policy, but no clear evidence either of the feared financial costs to society, or, importantly, the touted benefits to copyright owners. The most significant impact of AUSFTA’s copyright provisions, however, appears to have been their impact on Australia’s copyright trade policy. Pre-AUSFTA, Australia promoted multilateral standards and mostly sought to comply with, but not exceed international IP standards. Post-AUSFTA, Australia has pursued an approach akin to that of the US: endorsing international copyright rules that are significantly stronger, and more detailed. The paper queries whether this shift has been in Australia’s national interest, and raises interesting questions of path-dependence in policymaking and trade negotiations that warrant more, and broader attention in the literature.
'At the Intersection of Public Service and the Market: Libraries and the Future of Lending' by Rebecca Giblin and Kimberlee G. Weatherall in (2015) 26
Australian Intellectual Property Journal 4-26
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Most library uses of books occur outside the purview of copyright and the market. Loans fall outside copyright’s exclusive rights; libraries have exceptions for many activities that involve copying. Author remuneration for library uses via the public lending right is governed by distinctly non-market considerations. This changes when works take digital form: electronic lending involves copies and transmissions which copyright owners have a right to license. As a result, libraries’ ability to engage in electronic lending is governed by private contract, which means market forces largely determine the terms on which libraries can provide access – and whether they may do so at all. This has potentially significant implications: libraries have traditionally played an important role in furthering the public’s interest in access to content and other societal goals including the encouragement of Australian authorship. This article provides a doctrinal mapping of the regulation of physical and digital lending. It also identifies avenues of investigation which need to be explored to inform the practices of libraries and policymaking. What could we lose by a wholesale operation of market forces? And what could we gain?
