Cautious Welcome for FTA Deal
James Riley,
The Australian,
Feb 11, 2004
Australia has a new copyright regime, courtesy of a new free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States. Commentators, such as this cited here, are calling it similar to the American's Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which has of course been pilloried in these pages. Other critics are warning that the agreement will mean "huge increases in copyright licence fees paid by Australians" for content. "This is literally a Mickey Mouse cultural shift," (ANU law professor Matyhew) Rimmer said. "The US extended their copyright terms recently after intense lobbying by a group of powerful corporate copyright holders, most notably Walt Disney, which faced the expiry of its copyright on Mickey Mouse and other famous cartoon characters." And still others are representing the agreement as an indication of Australia's subservience to U.S. interests.
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