Australians who use iPods and other digital music players players will no longer be acting illegally after a major overhaul of copyright laws passed Parliament yesterday. The Australian government reviewed copyright laws in response to the rise in digital technology and following the signing of a free trade agreement with the US. Copying of compact discs is technically an offence under the old laws.
“Under the bill’s original provisions, everyday activities – such as singing Happy Birthday and owning an iPod, DVD recorder or camera phone – would have been criminalized… The controversial Copyright Amendment Bill 2006, which, as of yesterday, passed through both houses of Parliament, will become law by January 1,” Asher Moses reports for The Sydney Morning Herald.
Full article here.
Related articles:
Newly proposed Australian copyright laws could turn iPod users into criminals – November 22, 2006
The only legal way to get music into iPods in Australia is effectively Apple’s iTunes Music Store – October 30, 2005
Singing Happy Birthday?!?!
Happy Birthday is a copyright until 2030.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You
Australia reports a 99.9% decrease in crime overnight!
Good one maczealot
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It’s not often that government does something right, but looks like the Aussies have some reasonable fair-use laws, now. Congrats!
Hoo – bloody – ray.
g’Day mates!!!
rip away!!
Also, there is a town in Australia where guns are outlawed.
Funny thing is: they have never had a shooting there.
Imagine that.
Next things to go with the Free Trade Agreement and pressure form the US corporations:
* no more limits to foreign ownership of media
* no more limits to cross-media ownership (linked to above)
* no longer a certain percentage of local content on TV
Warning to other countries, count your fingers after shaking on a ‘Free Trade Agreement’.
Hey Romancer, that’s G’day mate, never the plural!
If you address a group of blokes it’s G’day ya bunch of drongo’s. OK.
Hey Mikal, you are wrong my friend, we hold a record. Google Port Arthur Massacre and see what you get! Not funny at all mate. You must be American?
Hey Mikal, guns are outlawed in NYC (permit aside). Funny thing…people still get shot. huh
Wow. I guess that made those who sung happy birthday to their iPods double criminals! 😮
MW: Likely. Charges are not likely to stick.
Hey, MDN, thanks for the credit in giving you the heads-up on this one yesterday!
Ferg,
Stop pulling their legs, nobody uses the word drongos (no apostraphe, it’s not an abreviation or possessive) anymore. That’s like saying “groovy, peace man.” Where the hell are you from, Borroloola?
Jokes aside this legislation sucks. I have to get the final reading of it but originally it criminalised someone downloading from the net. That means you get a fine AND criminal record. It’s not just a civil breach. That’s just plain wrong. But the real piece of rubbish in this legislation is that if you back up your music to a dvd then you are breaking the law. Likewise, under the old legislation it was NOT a criminal offence to breach copyright.
As that saying goes “The devil in the detail.”
Now I have to go out on that archeological dig to find those long lost drongos.
Make that “the devil is in the detail.”
Jeez, I’m having a bad spelling day. Apostrophe is the correct spelling. That’s what I get for using Camino. Stiil, I don’t have to view ads or listen to ringtones.
Yep, you can even bash in someones skull and its all good as long as the iPod is the murder weapon.
MW Justice. I’m not kidding. (Something tells me these Magic Words arn’t all that random sometimes)