ALIA celebrates copyright amendment Bill

The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) has celebrated a Bill amending the Copyright Act 1968 to simplify the use of copyright materials for libraries, educational institutions, archives and people with disabilities, which passed Federal Parliament on 15 June.

In 2015, the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) lobby group FAIR launched its Cooking for Copyright campaign calling for immediate reform to the ‘muddled copyright law’.

In a statement, ALIA welcomed the introduction of ‘important copyright reforms’ and said it is ‘delighted that ALIA members’ efforts to lobby has led to real change’.

ALIA CEO Sue McKerracher said that ‘with the help of ALIA and FAIR’s Members, this campaign helped convince our politicians that change was needed to copyright law to unlock millions of items, putting them in the public domain.’

McKerracher said ALIA is encouraging everyone to ‘cook again to celebrate these important copyright reforms on 31 July’ to mark the two-year anniversary since Australian librarians were encouraged to publish old recipes that were protected by copyright in ‘an act of civil disobedience’.

Category: Library news