The recent publication of the Australian Government's Copyright Law changes shows that safe harbor and fair use amendments have been added in response to the challenges and requirements posted by digital media. The only exceptions to these amendments cover educational organizations, cultural institutions, and people with disabilities. The paper is still a draft that has been disseminated publicly in order to gain feedback and comments until February 12, 2016.
Telecom Paper was the first to make mention of this deadline in its report published December 23. It also expounds on the purpose driving the changes to the Copyright Act of 1968. Aside from the necessary adaption to the evolving needs of digital media, the new changes also seek to limit and restrict the incidents of online copyright infringement. Another purpose is to make it easier for libraries and other cultural repositories to obtain their educational licenses and preserve copies of the material in their collection.
Greater access to a wider range of copyrighted content while lowering the risk of intruding into online copyright infringement is what drives the amendments to the Copyright Act, says a report by ZDNet. Should the amendments be implemented, universities and other educational organizations, libraries and their vaults, cultural foundations and people with disabilities can have more usage of online copyrighted material without fear of being sued for copyright violation.
Search engines that regularly search for content online and driven by the need of millions of computer users worldwide will also have their risk for online copyright infringement significantly lowered.
According to Gizmodo Australia, Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) welcomes the draft but advocates a stronger amendment invoking fair use, warning that the original Copyright Act of 1968 is fast becoming outdated and irrelevant to citizens who do almost all of their research and information-gathering activities online. The EFA argues that advanced countries like the United States, Singapore, and Israel are much more flexible and broader in their use of the fair use law to the digital platform.
