Government to table Bill extending safe harbour to libraries

Communications minister Mitch Fifield has told the Financial Review the federal government will introduce legislation extending safe harbour provisions to libraries, educational institutions and the disability, archive and culture sectors.

Online service providers such as Google and Facebook will be excluded from the safe harbour provisions, which give immunity to providers when users upload copyright-infringing material, as long as they are taking reasonable steps to get the content off their platforms.

As previously reported by Books+Publishing, in March the government tabled a Bill intending to simplify the use of copyright materials by libraries, educational institutions, archives and people with disabilities.

The Bill had the broad support of the Copyright Agency and the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). However, in April the federal government announced it would consult further on extending safe harbour provisions prior to introducing amended legislation, after library groups, among other organisations, expressed disappointment that the original Bill didn’t include safe harbour.

Category: Library news