Draft Guide to Copyright Licensing and Collecting Societies

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has requested submissions on its draft Guide to Copyright Licensing and Collecting Societies. The ACCC are interested in how useful the guide is to copyright users. Comments on the draft Guide are due by 31 January 2007.

Some background to the Guide:

1. The Copyright Amendment Act 2006 introduced two amendments regarding ACCC and its functions:

- The Copyright Tribunal may have regard to guidelines (if any) made by the ACCC.
- The Copyright Tribunal will be able to make the ACCC a party to a matter before the tribunal (if the ACCC applies and the tribunal is satisfied that it would be appropriate to do so).

2. The ACCC intends to issue a general information guide to users of copyright material to explain their rights and obligations under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).

Link to Draft Guide to Copyright Licensing and Collecting Societies