The government’s proposed amendments to the Copyright Amendment Bill 2006 are available from the Australian Parliament website.

For further information on the bill, click here and scroll to "Copyright Amendment Bill 2006".

The amendments include:

• limitations on the strict liability offences

• replacement of the proposed exception to allow format-shifting of music with an exception allowing "space-shifting": an owner of a copy of a sound recording will be able to make copies of that sound recording to use on any device, owned by that same person, that plays sound recordings (the copies need not be in a different format from the format of the original)

• the existing definition of "record" will be retained for the statutory licence for recording musical works

• a new defence of fair dealing for parody or satire (instead of an exception subject to the three-step test)

• a new limitation on the new "non-commercial" use exceptions to exclude uses for commercial profit, but allowing cost recovery

• a new version of the amendment to s 40 (research or study), limiting the meaning of "reasonable portion" to 10% or a chapter for published material

• key cultural institutions entitled to make 3 (rather than one) preservation copies of certain material

• a new version of the proposed amendment to s28, relating to communications for the purpose of playing or performing material in class

• a new version of the proposed amendment (s200AAA) relating to proxy caching by educational institutions

• a new definition of "licensor" for the purposes of the Copyright Tribunal provisions to limit the Tribunal's extended jurisdiction to licences offered by collecting societies.