ipwars.com

IPRIA and CMCL at Melbourne Uni. are holding a half-day forum on 18 March on:

• iiNet
• Larrikin (Down Under)
• Telstra v PDC

Speakers are:

The Attorney General opened the Copyright Futures conference in Canberra yesterday.

As part of his speech he mentioned that last week he held a roundtable forum with ‘about 30 of the key representative groups’.

Wonder what that was about? According to the Attorney-General, some of the emerging themes were:

• whether the Government would benefit from an independent source of advice in addition to my Department, especially for technology and competition issues 
• access to justice considerations for individual creators and also the effectiveness of the Copyright Tribunal
• addressing piracy in the online environment
• the roles and responsibilities of declared collecting societies
• whether there should be new rights for visual artists, indigenous creators  and audio-visual performers
• the relationship between copyright and contract law, and
• whether there should be new exceptions to allow greater access to copyright materials.

Then, he identified the Government’s agenda:

These include the issues of resale royalty legislation for visual artists and the review of restrictions on the parallel importation of books. 

I am also evaluating proposals on the use of internet material by educational institutions, the role of Internet Service Providers in relation to online infringements, and appropriate enforcement of intellectual property crimes.

There is also the push for Governments to consider how to enhance access to and re-use Government information.

(Of course, in the best traditions, the printed speech is followed by a copyright warning notice.)

The speech is online here.

IP Australia is hosting a half day seminar on 

The Economic Climate and its impact on innovation in Australia

in Melbourne on Wednesday 6 May 2009 (rsvp by 29 April).

Speakers include (?):

Leon Allen, President, IPTA

Mathew O’Keefe, President of Australia’s manufacturing association AMPICTA and also employed by Fosters 

Philip Noonan, Director General, IP Australia

Details via here.

IP Austraia is seeking applications from registered patent attorneys and/or trade mark attorneys for appointment to its IP Professionals Forum.

According to the blurb, the IP Professionals Forum:

The IP Professionals Forum is the principal forum for consultation, discussion and information exchange on IP matters that relate to IP professionals.

Meetings will allow for high-level discussion on IP policy, IP management, innovation and the broader IP environment, both in Australia and abroad. Participants will also be notified of IP Australia’s initiatives and consulted on future activities.

The forum meets biannually.  The appointment will be for a term of 2 to 3 years. You have to be prepared to fund your own travel – to Canberra, Melbourne or Sydney depending on where the meeting is.

Oh yes, you will be ineligible if you are already represented by an IP professional association including IPTA, LESANZ, LCA and FICPI.  Does that leave anyone left?

More details via here.