The Future of Television: Australian Legal Protection of Digital Broadcast Content. Free-to-air broadcasting performs central democratic, economic and cultural functions, with a key place in Australia's media. But technological changes pose fundamental and urgent challenges for broadcasters. By investigating mechanisms to protect digital content, the project will advance understanding of a crucial issue in the digital economy. The project will increase understanding of options for protecting bro ....The Future of Television: Australian Legal Protection of Digital Broadcast Content. Free-to-air broadcasting performs central democratic, economic and cultural functions, with a key place in Australia's media. But technological changes pose fundamental and urgent challenges for broadcasters. By investigating mechanisms to protect digital content, the project will advance understanding of a crucial issue in the digital economy. The project will increase understanding of options for protecting broadcast content to promote innovation in content production and distribution, while not restraining reasonable content uses nor hindering innovative consumer electronics. Australian policies should foster an innovative and diverse broadcasting sector to serve Australian public interests. The project promotes this vital objective.Read moreRead less
Amateur Hour: The Sociolegal Construction of Amateur Media. This project addresses Research Priority 3, specifically the priority goal of Promoting an Innovation Culture and Economy. The rise of amateur networked production is a highly significant transformation in Australia's cultural and media industries. Innovation policy provides incentives for the socially-optimal production of new works, but amateurs do not produce for commercial gain, and may not respond to commercial incentives of inte ....Amateur Hour: The Sociolegal Construction of Amateur Media. This project addresses Research Priority 3, specifically the priority goal of Promoting an Innovation Culture and Economy. The rise of amateur networked production is a highly significant transformation in Australia's cultural and media industries. Innovation policy provides incentives for the socially-optimal production of new works, but amateurs do not produce for commercial gain, and may not respond to commercial incentives of intellectual property. The project articulates motivations, incentive and conditions for amateur content production.Read moreRead less
Entertainment rights in the age of the franchise: a reappraisal of personality rights under Australian intellectual property laws. Global entertainment industry practice is to assert broad rights in creative entertainment concepts and characters. There is huge global merchandising potential for cultural products, as demonstrated by The Wiggles, Harry Potter and Pokemon. In the US, the UK, Japan and Korea there have been developments to enhance the protection of character and personality rights. ....Entertainment rights in the age of the franchise: a reappraisal of personality rights under Australian intellectual property laws. Global entertainment industry practice is to assert broad rights in creative entertainment concepts and characters. There is huge global merchandising potential for cultural products, as demonstrated by The Wiggles, Harry Potter and Pokemon. In the US, the UK, Japan and Korea there have been developments to enhance the protection of character and personality rights. However there is no current study of the status of the entertainment franchise under Australian intellectual property law. With Australian imports of cultural products at an all-time high and with local productions increasingly geared towards worldwide audiences, this study critically evaluates how Australian law fits with the realities of the global entertainment marketplace.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354839
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Transforming Knowledge Spaces: Open Technologies for Research Collaboration and Research Communication
. Technology has the potential to transform the means for scholarly collaboration and communication. Our proposal will achieve this potential, by deploying open source infrastructures to create new communication platforms. The Initiative will itself use collaborative writing systems to construct and energise the Network, which will match researchers requiring these new technologies with thos ....Transforming Knowledge Spaces: Open Technologies for Research Collaboration and Research Communication
. Technology has the potential to transform the means for scholarly collaboration and communication. Our proposal will achieve this potential, by deploying open source infrastructures to create new communication platforms. The Initiative will itself use collaborative writing systems to construct and energise the Network, which will match researchers requiring these new technologies with those who have the skills to build them. The outcomes will be an increase in the efficiency of traditional research collaborations as well as new kinds of collaboration and communication, for researchers and consumers of research across a range of disciplines.Read moreRead less
Cultural Collections, Creators and Copyright: Museums, Galleries, Libraries and Archives and Australia's Digital Heritage. This project investigates current and emerging ways of using digital collections in museums, galleries, libraries and archives, in light of copyright law and the interests of creators. It serves the strong public interest in facilitating digital access to collections while efficiently managing copyright. Exploiting the potential of digital media and maximising Australia's cr ....Cultural Collections, Creators and Copyright: Museums, Galleries, Libraries and Archives and Australia's Digital Heritage. This project investigates current and emerging ways of using digital collections in museums, galleries, libraries and archives, in light of copyright law and the interests of creators. It serves the strong public interest in facilitating digital access to collections while efficiently managing copyright. Exploiting the potential of digital media and maximising Australia's creative capability both depend on providing adequate incentives for content production while granting access to creative material as a resource for new production. The project will assist Australia better manage its digital cultural collections and balance the interests of creators, institutions and public accessibility.Read moreRead less
Unlocking IP - Expanding public rights and the public domain in Australian copyright. This research investigates how Australia's digital commons, comprising both the public domain and public rights created by open content and open software licensing, can be expanded and protected. It focuses on 'self help' actions within the existing statutory context, in Australia's distinct legal and cultural context, and on comprehensiveness. Its significance is that healthy commons-based production of inform ....Unlocking IP - Expanding public rights and the public domain in Australian copyright. This research investigates how Australia's digital commons, comprising both the public domain and public rights created by open content and open software licensing, can be expanded and protected. It focuses on 'self help' actions within the existing statutory context, in Australia's distinct legal and cultural context, and on comprehensiveness. Its significance is that healthy commons-based production of information is essential to Australia as an innovative country and a democracy. The principal outcomes will be better understood and more efficient public rights licences, incentives to copyright owners to create them, and technical aids to allow users to find commons content.Read moreRead less
Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Digitising Collections in Public Museums, Galleries and Libraries. Digital technology gives cultural institutions significant new avenues for research, preservation and public access to collections, but also raises substantial issues about copyright management. This project investigates how museums, galleries and libraries are digitising material under Australian copyright law. Legal and sociological research involving collaboration with six leading cultura ....Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Digitising Collections in Public Museums, Galleries and Libraries. Digital technology gives cultural institutions significant new avenues for research, preservation and public access to collections, but also raises substantial issues about copyright management. This project investigates how museums, galleries and libraries are digitising material under Australian copyright law. Legal and sociological research involving collaboration with six leading cultural institutions will produce digitisation guidelines facilitating appropriate copyright management, and will underlie an evaluation of copyright law and industry practice. This case-study of how digital technology changes relationships between copyright owners, users and the general public offers major contributions to a central public policy issue about digital copyright.Read moreRead less
Facilitation and Regulation of Research and Development Involving Human Genetic Databanks. Australia's medical biotechnology research feeds into our biotechnology industries, with flow-on benefits for national health and prosperity. Realisation of these benefits is contingent upon community protection and public trust. An effective and appropriate regulatory regime is a foundation requirement. This project aims to shape a national regulatory framework for human genetic databanks that both facili ....Facilitation and Regulation of Research and Development Involving Human Genetic Databanks. Australia's medical biotechnology research feeds into our biotechnology industries, with flow-on benefits for national health and prosperity. Realisation of these benefits is contingent upon community protection and public trust. An effective and appropriate regulatory regime is a foundation requirement. This project aims to shape a national regulatory framework for human genetic databanks that both facilitates research and maintains highest ethical standards. By examining the balance between facilitation and regulation, assessing existing law reform proposals, making recommendations for further reform, and placing this analysis in the international context, this project will significantly benefit the nation and the research community. Read moreRead less
Co-operative intellectual property management and technology transfer for the Australian biotechnology industry. The Australian biotechnology industry rests on a framework of internationally competitive research and should be well placed to capture a significant share of expanding global markets. However, existing intellectual property (IP) management strategies do not make the most of this potential because they raise barriers to much-needed co-operation among industry players. By developing an ....Co-operative intellectual property management and technology transfer for the Australian biotechnology industry. The Australian biotechnology industry rests on a framework of internationally competitive research and should be well placed to capture a significant share of expanding global markets. However, existing intellectual property (IP) management strategies do not make the most of this potential because they raise barriers to much-needed co-operation among industry players. By developing and refining new co-operative IP management models in an Australian context, this project offers direct economic benefits (more efficient industry structures), improved social and economic benefits (better and cheaper biotechnology products and services), and an opportunity for Australia to take the lead in developing innovative approaches to IP management.Read moreRead less
The innovation pool in Australian biotechnology: assessing strategies for fostering innovation through patenting and patent pooling. The current patent system was designed for a very different research environment than that in which the global biotechnology industry operates. Rather than facilitating innovation there is evidence that the system can unduly restrict R&D. Patent pooling is being promoted internationally as a way to facilitate innovation. However, potential pitfalls are also recogni ....The innovation pool in Australian biotechnology: assessing strategies for fostering innovation through patenting and patent pooling. The current patent system was designed for a very different research environment than that in which the global biotechnology industry operates. Rather than facilitating innovation there is evidence that the system can unduly restrict R&D. Patent pooling is being promoted internationally as a way to facilitate innovation. However, potential pitfalls are also recognised, and work is underway to develop appropriate regulation. Australia cannot afford to be left behind: urgent consideration must be given to the desirability of patent pooling and the regulatory changes that are required to allow it to function in the national interest. The proposed research will provide the data necessary to make informed decisions on this critical issue. Read moreRead less