Also in association with Swinburne University,
the University of Wollongong, Australian National University,
Charles Darwin University, Edith Cowan University, ACID and AFTRS
Program Leader: Brian Fitzgerald
We are faced with a legal and technological environment that is increasingly beset by differing approaches to the problem of intellectual property. On the one hand, formidable efforts are being made to sequester and control intellectual property through stronger copyright regimes and technological fixes such as digital rights management; on the other, a groundswell of support for open content licensing (OCL) approaches, including Creative Commons-style regimes, is now beginning to make its mark. Without progress in fashioning a better balance between these two forces, the future of Australia’s creative economy and society will be compromised.
The Legal and Regulatory Impasses and Innovation program examines the way in which existing copyright law promotes or hinders the production, dissemination and consumption of digital content. In particular, our research considers the Creative Commons model, and how it can work within the Australian legal system to harness innovation. We also examine the use of Creative Commons licensing to make publicly funded creative archives more accessible and to facilitate the creation and operation of collaborative online communities.
The program works with world leaders in this field, including Professor Lawrence Lessig of Stanford Law School and Professor William (Terry) Fisher of Harvard’s Berkman Centre for Internet and Society. The Program Leader, Professor Brian Fitzgerald, is an internationally recognised researcher at the forefront of the Creative Commons movement in Australia.
Projects at CCI