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From The Australian Digital Alliance website:

“The ADA is a non-profit coalition of public and private sector interests formed to promote balanced copyright law and provide an effective voice for a public interest perspective in the copyright debate. ADA members include universities, schools, consumer groups, galleries, museums , IT companies, scientific and other research organisations, libraries and individuals.”

The Australian Digital Alliance has been very active in being a voice for the idea of balance in copyright law in Australia. The release of a new report on a review of the National Innovation System commissioned by the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research was reported recently on the ADA website. Some of the key reccommendations that have an impact on the area of copyright and intellectual property are listed below.

Recommendation 7.3

Professional practitioners and beneficiaries of the IP system should be closely involved in IP policy making. However, IP policy is economic policy. It should make the same transition as competition policy did in the 1980s and 90s to being managed as such.

Recommendation 7.7

Australia should establish a National Information Strategy to optimise the flow of information in the Australian economy.
The fundamental aim of a National Information Strategy should be to:

• utilise the principles of targeted transparency and the development of auditable standards to maximise the flow of information in private markets about product quality; and
• maximise the flow of government generated information, research, and content for the benefit of users (including private sector resellers of information).

Recommendation 7.8

Australian governments should adopt international standards of open publishing as far as possible. Material released for public information by Australian governments should be released under a creative commons licence.

Recommendation 7.9

Funding models and institutional mandates should recognise the research and innovation role and contributions of cultural agencies and institutions responsible for information repositories, physical collections or creative content and fund them accordingly.

The entire report can be viewed at the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research website.