Have your say on draft copyright reform legislation

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We are seeking submissions on an exposure draft of the Copyright Amendment (Access Reforms) Bill 2021 and on the technological protection measure exceptions in the Copyright Regulations 2017.

Why we want your input

The reforms are intended to better support Australians to access copyright content in an increasingly digital environment, while maintaining incentives and protections for content creators.

The Government wants your feedback to help inform the final legislation.

We are also seeking your feedback on the technological protection measure exceptions in the Copyright Regulations.

How you can voice your opinion

You can provide comment by making a submission to the Department using the form below or by emailing copyright.consultation@communications.gov.au by 5pm 25 February 2022.

What will be the outcome of this consultation?

Your submission will be used to inform the final legislation of the Copyright Amendment (Access Reforms) Bill 2021 and a review of the technological protection measure exceptions.

The Issue

The Government has released an exposure draft of the Copyright Amendment (Access Reform) Bill 2021 (the Bill), and a discussion paper, so that interested individuals and organisations can have their say.

The Bill comprises five main reform measures:

Schedule 1—Limitation on remedies for use of orphan works
Schedule 2—New fair dealing exception for non-commercial quotation
Schedule 3—Update and clarify library and archives exceptions
Schedule 4—Update and restore education exceptions
Schedule 5—Streamline the government statutory licensing scheme.

The Bill also includes some additional minor and technical amendments that streamline some procedural aspects of the Copyright Act 1968, update certain references and improve consistency of language.

The Government is also conducting a review of the technological protection measure exceptions in the Copyright Regulations 2017 and we would like your feedback on this.

Relevant documentation

Discussion paper—Exposure Draft Copyright Amendment (Access Reform) Bill 2021 & Review of Technological Protection Measures Exceptions

Discussion paper—Exposure Draft Copyright Amendment (Access Reform) Bill 2021 & Review of Technological Protection Measures Exce (1.3 MB)

Discussion paper—Exposure Draft Copyright Amendment (Access Reform) Bill 2021 & Review of Technological Protection Measures Exce (867.6 KB)

This Exposure Draft of the Copyright Amendment (Access Reform) Bill aims to simplify and update provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 to better support the needs of Australians accessing content in the digital environment.