Published: 1 March 2007

TC Beirne School of Law’s Australian Centre for Intellectual Property in Agriculture (ACIPA) hosted the 12th Annual Copyright Conference 'Copyright: From 'The Da Vinci Code' to YouTube' on Friday 16 February in Brisbane.

The conference considered the sweeping reforms of the Copyright Amendment Act 2006 (Cth) - including the new batch of copyright exceptions, stronger technological protection measures, new strict liability offences, and the reconstitution of the Australian Copyright Tribunal. The event also explored new technological developments, such as open source software, internet videos, and broadcast flags, and examined noteworthy trials - like the dispute over the bestseller, The Da Vinci Code.

The Attorney-General, the Hon Philip Ruddock MP, and Helen Daniels of the Attorney-General’s Department, discussed the government's agenda of copyright law reform. Carolyn Dalton of Minter Ellison Lawyers and Sharon Givoni provided the perspective of legal practitioners on the new copyright laws. Dr David Brennan, a consultant with Screenrights, and Sarah Waladan of the Australian Film Commission offered the views of copyright stakeholders. There were also academic commentaries from Kimberlee Weatherall of the TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland, Emily Hudson of The University of Melbourne, and Dr Matthew Rimmer of ACIPA, the ANU College of Law.