The Attorney-General intends to
introduce the Copyright Amendment Bill 2006 into the Parliament in October and to refer the Bill to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal
and Constitutional Affairs for consideration following its
introduction.
The Bill will contain amendments to implement
the outcome of various reviews the Government has conducted including:
- the ‘Fair Use and Other Copyright Exceptions Review’,
- the review of the
2001 Digital Agenda reforms, - the subscription broadcast review and
- the
harmonisation of criminal law provisions with the Criminal Code Act
1995 and Australian Government criminal law policy.
It will contain
amendments to implement Australia’s remaining obligations under the
Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement in relation to
technological protection measures (TPMs). Drafts of the TPM amendments have already been released.
The Bill will also contain
other initiatives that the Government has been working on such as
measures to improve Australia’s copyright enforcement regime and
amendments to implement various reforms concerning the Copyright
Tribunal.