The high­ly antic­i­pat­ed ALRC issues paper on the Copy­right and the Dig­i­tal Econ­o­my was released on 20 August 2012.

The issues paper requests for com­men­tary on over 50 ques­tions relat­ing to the appro­pri­ate­ness of the cur­rent copy­right excep­tions. These also cov­er con­verged media and new tech­nolo­gies in rela­tion to copy­right which were not cov­ered in the recent con­ver­gence review.

Whether fur­ther excep­tions should be incor­po­rat­ed into the Copy­right Act is also con­tem­plat­ed such as to recog­nise fair use of copy­right mate­r­i­al; allow trans­for­ma­tive, inno­v­a­tive and col­lab­o­ra­tive use of copy­right mate­ri­als to cre­ate and deliv­er new prod­ucts and ser­vices of pub­lic ben­e­fit; and allow appro­pri­ate access, use, inter­ac­tion and pro­duc­tion of copy­right mate­r­i­al online for social, pri­vate or domes­tic purposes.

A copy of the issues paper can be found via the ALRC web­site.

The dead­line for sub­mis­sions is 16 Novem­ber 2012. We will keep you updat­ed with the out­come of the ALR­C’s inquiry.

If you would like to repub­lish this arti­cle, it is gen­er­al­ly approved, but pri­or to doing so please con­tact the Mar­ket­ing team at marketing@​swaab.​com.​au. This arti­cle is not legal advice and the views and com­ments are of a gen­er­al nature only. This arti­cle is not to be relied upon in sub­sti­tu­tion for detailed legal advice.

Publications

Where is my mind? The rise of con­tentious pro­bate pro­ceed­ings sur­round­ing the issue of tes­ta­men­tary capacity

In New South Wales, fam­i­ly pro­vi­sion and con­tentious pro­bate claims under the Suc­ces­sion Act 2006 (NSW) are increas­ing­ly focused on…

Kyle and Jack­ie O: The Work­place Rela­tions Law Perspective

The rela­tion­ship between show­busi­ness duos often comes to an acri­mo­nious end. Mar­tin and Lewis split at the height of their…

The Paper­cut Deci­sion and the Cur­rent Posi­tion on WFH

The FWC’s John­son v Paper­Cut Soft­ware deci­sion has renewed debate about the lim­its of work­ing from home rights. While some have…

In the News

Michael Byrnes appeared on The Quar­ter Hour, a radio indus­try pod­cast host­ed by Wade Kings­ley, to dis­cuss the legal aspects of the Kyle and Jack­ie O split, on 13 March 2026

Michael Byrnes appeared on The Quar­ter Hour, a radio indus­try pod­cast host­ed by Wade Kings­ley, to dis­cuss the legal aspects of the…

McK­night Tonight with Robert McK­night inter­views Michael Byrnes on the legal aspects of the Kyle and Jack­ie O split (from 28:25 to 51:00):

In this in‑depth inter­view, Michael Byrnes, Part­ner and employ­ment law spe­cial­ist, shares prac­ti­cal insights on work­place rela­tions, employ­ment law trends…

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, DIY jus­tice: The surge of self-rep­re­sen­ta­tion and its toll on the jus­tice sys­tem”, pub­lished in Lawyers Week­ly on 11 March 2026

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“DIY jus­tice: The surge of self-rep­re­sen­ta­tion and its toll on the jus­tice sys­tem”…

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