Copyright and open access in a fast changing landscape

Abstract

This talk will look at recent issues relating to copyright both overseas and in Australia. Copyright determines what we can and cannot share and recent attempts in the US to enforce copyright online saw an online protest by Wikipedia turning 'off' for 24 hours. In January a proposal for the US Research Works Act - which would make it illegal to have open access a condition of federal research funding - was met with a storm of online protest. Not only was the bill retracted but it spawned an academic boycott of Elsevier in protest of their financial support of the bill. The Australian Law Reform Commission is currently conducting an inquiry into Copyright and the Digital Economy. This is an area to watch.