The IP and Technology Law Clinic will be holding two initial advice sessions in 2010:

• Thursday 25 February [NOW FULL]

• Thursday 25 March

Advice sessions run for 45 minutes each, starting at 5:30pm and ending at 8:00pm. Advice sessions are held in Brisbane CBD.

BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL.

To make a booking, call (07) 3138 6836 or email Cheryl Foong at j.foong@connect.qut.edu.au or Kylie Pappalardo at k.pappalardo@qut.edu.au

Following on from the Peer-to-Patent projects run recently out of the New York Law School (NYLS) and the Japanese Patent Office comes Peer-to-Patent Australia (www.peertopatent.org.au). Peer-to-Patent Australia lead by Professor Brian Fitzgerald is a joint initiative of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and IP Australia that is designed to improve the patent examination process and the quality of issued patents.
Peer-to-Patent Australia is the result of the collaborative efforts of QUT and NYLS. The project will initially run as a 6-month pilot that will focus on the rapidly advancing technology areas of business methods and computer software. Up to 40 business method, computer software and related patent applications that have been filed in Australia and which are open for public inspection will each be posted on the Peer-to-Patent Australia website for a 90-day period. During that time, members of community can review those applications, submit prior art references and comment on the relevance of any prior art that has been put forward.
At the end of the review period, Peer-to-Patent Australia will forward the top 10 prior art submissions for each application, as selected by the community of reviewers, to IP Australia for consideration in the examination process. The review process in no way abrogates the responsibility of the patent examiner to assess a patent application. Prior art submitted by Peer-to-Patent Australia is solely designed to assist a patent examiner, who remains the arbiter of whether a patent is to be granted.
The project uses a consent based model. Patent applicants will be asked to consent to having their applications included in the pilot. There are currently 7 applicants who have consented to participate. These are IBM, Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Limited, General Electric Company, Hewlett-Packard, Residex Pty Ltd, Yahoo and CSIRO. Those applicants have put forward 18 patent applications for peer review. 15 of those will be made available at the launch.
For those of you who would like to participate in the prior-art-search, sign up at www.peertopatent.org.au.
Peer-to-Patent Australia launched on Wednesday 9 December 2009.

See further the Press Release of Richard Marles, Parliamentary Secretary for Innovation

See also the IP Australia website here http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/peertopatent.shtml

On Thursday 10 and Friday 11 December 2009, the Australian Government Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE) will be holding the Realising Our Broadband Future Forum in Sydney.

For anyone interested but unable to attend the main event, we are holding a Brisbane consultative forum on Thursday 10 December 2009 at QUT. This forum will include segements of the official video feed by live webcast, as well as facilitated discussion aligned with the themes of the national summit. The discussion session will be summarised and provided as feedback to the DBCDE summit.

We’re talking about our connected future. This isn’t about technology, it’s about how we can all use it – to connect communities, build businesses, improve our education and health systems, create and innovate, improve our quality of life for all.

Details -

When:

Thursday, December 10, 2009 from 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM (GMT+1000)

Where:

QUT Gardens Point campus - D block, room 101
2 George St
Brisbane, Queensland 4000
Australia

Register:

Register online

Contact:

If you’d like more information, please contact Paul O’Keeffe on 0423 358 827 or by email to paul.okeeffe[at]columina.com.

Program:

If you are interested, feel free to download a copy of the program for more information. Download link

You can also follow the Queensland Twitter feed through #bbfqld – and the main summit at #bbfuture.

The advice sessions for 2009 are now FULL.
The IP and Technology Law Clinic will be providing more free legal services in 2010.
Keep checking IP:KCE website for more information.

Join us on the Web

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/IPTechClinic
Become a Fan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/IPTechClinic

Professor Brian Fitzgerald and Kylie Pappalardo from QUT Faculty of Law, in conjunction with Queensland Public Interest Law Clearing House (QPILCH), have established an IP and Technology Law Clinic to provide free legal advice for members of the creative and technology sectors with limited financial resources. Ask legal professionals about copyright, recording and publishing agreements, media rights, digital distribution, business models, and much more.

Book now for the inaugural advice sessions: Thursday 29 October 2009 and Thursday 26 November 2009, Brisbane CBD from 5:30pm-7:30pm.

UPDATE 05 Oct 2009
We have just been notified that the previous number on our website contained a typographical error. If you copied down our number before today, please amend your records. The correct number is 3138 6836. Many thanks!

To make a booking, call (07) 3138 6836 or email Kylie Pappalardo at k.pappalardo@qut.edu.au

Flyers

Arts version
Music version

Web Banner

We have also created a great banner, so put it up on your website and start spreading the word!

Link to the banner image

On 25 August 2009, Richard Allan gave a talk to the Spatially Enabled Government Services conference in Canberra, covering the Power of Information Agenda in the UK and issues such as access to geographic data.

Below is the link to the video hosted on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=263230900330

The videos for the Copyright Future: Copyright Freedom 2009 conference held at the Old Parliament House in Canberra from 27 - 28 May 2009 are now available.

Please visit this link below to to view the videos or download the talks as MP3.

http://www.ip.qut.edu.au/copyrightfuture/cfcf09.html

The report of the Victorian Parliament’s Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee (EDIC) on the Inquiry into Improving Access to Victorian Public Sector Information and Data was tabled in Parliament on 24 June 2009 (see the report).

The Committee was tasked with inquiring into, considering and reporting to the Victorian Parliament on the potential application of open content and open source licensing models to Victorian Government information.

The Committee made a number of key findings, including that improved access to and utilisation of public sector information (PSI) may result in economic benefits for the Victorian Government through greater efficiency in the allocation of resources and more informed decision-making and policy development processes (Finding 2). It also found that PSI should be priced at no cost or marginal cost (Finding 19) and that access to and reuse of PSI will be best facilitated by applying standardised licences to the PSI in accordance with existing copyright provisions (Findings 8 and 9). Significantly, the Committee found that Creative Commons licences can be appropriately applied to around 85% of PSI (Finding 13), and that issuing attribution-only Creative Commons licences will assist in maintaining the integrity of Victorian Government PSI while ensuring that access and reuse opportunities are maximised (Finding 15).

In the Report, the Committee recommends that the Victorian Government release a public statement indicating that it endorses open access as the default position for the management of its PSI (Recommendation 1). The Committee also recommends that the Victorian Government develop a whole-of-government Information Management Framework (Recommendation 2) and that it adopt the Creative Commons licensing model as the default licensing system for the Information Management Framework (Recommendation 14) with a tailored suite of licences for restricted materials (Recommendation 15). Finally, the Committee recommends that the Victorian Government develop specific guidelines for the pricing of PSI, emphasising the provision of PSI at no cost or marginal cost (Recommendation 16).

The work of Professors Brian and Anne Fitzgerald and their research teams is extensively referenced in the report. Professor Brian Fitzgerald is quoted in relation to open innovation (on page 14) and open content licences (on page 68). Professor Anne Fitzgerald is quoted on page 67 in discussion of the complexities that may arise if copyright is simply removed from government information. They are quoted together (on pages 76 and 77) in relation to the application of Creative Commons licences to PSI.

Professor Brian Fitzgerald of QUT Law School has been appointed to the new Government 2.0 Taskforce, announced Monday 22 June 2009. The Terms of Reference for the Taskforce are that the Taskforce will advise and assist the Australian Government to:

• make government information more accessible and usable — to establish a pro-disclosure culture around non-sensitive public sector information;
• make government more consultative, participatory and transparent — to maximise the extent to which government utilises the views, knowledge and resources of the general community;
• build a culture of online innovation within Government — to ensure that government is receptive to the possibilities created by new collaborative technologies and uses them to advance its ambition to continually improve the way it operates;
• promote collaboration across agencies with respect to online and information initiatives — to ensure that efficiencies, innovations, knowledge and enthusiasm are shared on a platform of open standards; and
• identify and/or trial initiatives that may achieve or demonstrate how to accomplish the above objectives.

For more information, see the Government 2.0 Taskforce blog.

Opening Access to Australian Archives

The internet, digital recording devices and the ready availability of content production software have together drastically changed the creative landscape. As a result, linear models of knowledge and cultural production and commercialisation are rapidly being supplanted by more distributed, collaborative, user-generated and open networking models. Yet Australians wishing to participate in this new digital culture have great difficulty gaining access to quality content about their own culture and history that can be legally and safely used and re-used. This limits our ability to access the full benefits that could be provided by new technologies to the fields of education, the creative industries and business innovation.

As the recent Venturous Australia report prepared by Cutler & Company for the Review of the National Innovation System pointed out, Australia’s cultural and collecting institutions have the ability to fill this gap by opening access to material that is owned by the Australian people or has fallen into the public domain. Although a number of individual institutions are taking innovate steps to increase online access to their collections, factors such as strict copyright laws, lack of funding and little policy guidance continue to create problems for realising the full potential of this content.

The Opening Australia’s Archives project is an initiative of the Centre of Excellence for Creative Industry and Innovation’s Digital Liberty research program which aims to explore opportunities to increase the public’s ability to access and reuse our national collections through coordinated sector-policy, implementation and advocacy approaches. As a starting point, it will be running a series of meetings around Australia aimed at facilitating discussion between representatives of the cultural sector on this issue. For full details of the meetings, including minutes, see below.

The Principles

The first draft of Opening Australia’s Archives: Open Access Principles for Australian Collecting Institutions is now available for public comment.

To facilitate public feedback, the draft has been uploaded to a dedicated wiki, via open wiki service wikidot. People are free to amend, add to and comment on the draft as they like, as long as they register a free account on the wiki. All changes will be recorded in the wiki’s history and are able to be reversed, so feel free to experiment and be free with your suggestions. For more instructions on accessing and editing the wiki, see the wikidot help pages listed to the left of the wiki page.

Direct feedback on the draft principles will also be sought from representatives of the Australian collecting sector and relevant peak bodies. If you would like to be included in the contact list for direct consultation, please contact Jessica Coates at j2.coates@qut.edu.au.

The documents you find on the wiki have been prepared in consultation with the Australian collecting sector through the Opening Australia’s Archives meetings (see below). Please note that all material available on the wiki is in draft form, and should not be regarded as final or endorsed by any individual or participating organisation, including the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, the Queensland University of Technology, or any representatives of Australia’s collecting sector.

Meetings

Preliminary Canberra meeting - Thursday 28 May 2009

The Opening Access to Australia’s Archives meeting was held at Old Parliament House, Canberra, Australia, from 2-4pm on Thursday 28th May 2009, following the Copyright Future: Copyright Freedom conference.

This meeting, which had more than 30 attendees, aimed to facilitate discussion among Australian cultural sector representatives about opportunities to increase the public’s ability to access and reuse our national collections through coordinated policy, implementation and advocacy approaches.

The minutes of the meeting can be found here.

The major outcome of the meeting was a decision to hold a longer day-long symposium addressing the issues over the coming months.

Half-day Canberra workshop - Tuesday 25 August 2009

This half-day forum aims to bring together representatives of Australia’s cultural institutions to:

• identify the benefits and disadvantages of providing open access to cultural collections;
• document models of access currently being used by Australia’s collecting institutions;
• identify barriers to providing broader access to collections;
• gauge the level of interest in a coordinated sector-wide approach to access policies and practices; and
• develop a plan for improving government policy on access to cultural material.

It will build on discussion undertaken at a preliminary meeting held at Old Parliament House in Canberra on 24 May, 2009, and will aim to generate practical outcomes including best practice guidelines, proposed collaborative projects and a detailed advocacy strategy.

The forum is free to attend and lunch will be provided. Download the flyer here.

Facilitators:
Professor Brian Fitzgerald (Professor of Intellectual Property and Innovation, Queensland University of Technology), Jessica Coates (Project Manager, Creative Commons Clinic), Professor Phil Graham (Professor of Communication and Culture, Queensland University of Technology)

The minutes of the meeting can be found here.

The draft Open Access Principles discussed at the meeting can be found here.

State meetings - September 2009

Following the Canberra meeting, the follow-up meetings were held in other state capitals.

Meeting Dates and Venues

• Adelaide 17 September, 2pm - 5pm
  State Library of South Australia, Jervois Room, Mortlock Wing, North Terrace, Adelaide
• Perth 18 September, 2pm - 5pm
  State Library of Western Australia, Perth Cultural Centre, James St, Perth
• Sydney 25 September, 10am - 1pm
  National Maritime Museum, Maritime Heritage Centre, Wharf 7, Darling Harbour, Corner Pirrama Road and Murray Street, Pyrmont
• Melbourne 29 September, 2pm - 5pm
  RMIT University, Level 4, Room 47, Building 94, Cardigan Street, Carlton
• Brisbane TBC

Meeting Minute
Minute of the state meetings is available in PDF here.

Facilitators:
Professor Brian Fitzgerald (Professor of Intellectual Property and Innovation, Queensland University of Technology), Jessica Coates (Project Manager, Creative Commons Clinic)

RSVP
Please RSVP a week prior to the relevant meeting to Jessica Coates at j2.coates@qut.edu.au or on ph: 07 3138 8301.

Download the flyer here.

Relevant Submissions

Below are links to submissions and other formal documents prepared by the project.