The Minister for Justice and Customs has released the Copyright Law
Review Committee’s report, Crown Copyright Report, following the Committee’s
inquiry into Crown copyright.
The report follows an ongoing discussion about whether the Crown has unfairly obtained copyright over a wide range of research and reports and whether anyone even knows what the Crown has copyright over.
The key findings include:
"An important impetus for this inquiry was the Ergas Committee’s comments on section 176 of the Copyright Act 1968 (the Copyright Act), which gives the Commonwealth and States ownership of copyright in works made by them or under their direction or control. The Ergas Committee argued that this provision places government in a privileged position compared with other contractors or employers, and that this situation was inconsistent with the principle of competitive neutrality.
The Committee has concluded that the special Crown subsistence and ownership provisions should be repealed for several reasons. First, the subsistence provisions are not clearly drafted and it is difficult to envisage situations where they would be relied upon today. Second, the ambit of the
ownership provisions is uncertain and the Committee considers there is no justification for government to have a privileged position compared with other copyright owners. In particular, the Committee considers that the term ‘direction or control’ is potentially far too broad. Ownership of copyright in works commissioned by government from independent parties should not be determined by default provisions that alter the usual copyright ownership rules. Not only do these provisions give government a negotiating advantage, but the Committee also heard evidence that many creators have been unaware that in the absence of a written contractual provision with government, they have lost copyright in their creations.
Recommendation 4: The Committee recommends that copyright in certain materials produced by the judicial, legislative and executive arms of government be abolished. Those materials are:
• bills, statutes, regulations, ordinances, by-laws and proclamations, and explanatory memoranda or explanatory statements relating to those materials;
• judgments, orders and awards of any court or tribunal;
• official records of parliamentary debates and reports of parliament, including reports of parliamentary committees;
• reports of commissions of inquiry, including royal commissions and ministerial and statutory inquiries; and
• other categories of material prescribed by regulation.
Recommendation 5: The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth, States and Territories be under a statutory duty to disseminate legislation and judgments.
