July 31, 2024

Paying tribute to trailblazing Australian playwright Ray Lawler

Vale Ray Lawler We pay tribute to trailblazing Australian playwright, Copyright Agency member Ray Lawler, who recently passed away, aged 103. Acknowledged as Australia’s most famous play, Ray wrote Summer of the Seventeeth Doll, and performed in its first production in 1955. After enormous success throughout Australia, the play subsequently travelled to London and New […]

July 31, 2024

And the 2024 Reading Australia Fellow is…

Maya Mulhall, a teacher from Blackburn High School in Victoria, is the 2024 Reading Australia Fellow for teachers of English and literacy and teacher librarians. The Reading Australia Fellowship provides $15,000 to a leading English and/or literacy teacher or teacher librarian to undertake a career-enhancing research project that will benefit the successful Fellow as well as the […]

July 30, 2024

Vinnies CEO Sleepout and cold hard truths on Australian homelessness

Our CEO, Jo Johnston took part in their first Vinnies CEO Sleepout back in June. Following a successful fundraising event, she wanted to share her experience from the night: “On 20 June I joined 1,591 CEOs across Australia to participate in the Vinnies CEO Sleepout and raise money to support Australians in need. With temperatures […]

July 26, 2024

CLA announces TDM licence

On 25 July, UK-based Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) announced a new licence for text and data mining (TDM). You can see the announcement here. CLA describes TDM as ‘the process of using computational techniques to extract valuable insights and patterns from large volumes of information’. Its licence will allow organisations to carry out or perform […]

July 26, 2024

NSW Parliamentary report on Artificial intelligence in New South Wales

On 25 July, the NSW Upper House committee inquiring into artificial intelligence in New South Wales tabled its report. You can see the announcement here and the report here. The Committee commented that: The committee acknowledges the significant concerns of those within the creative industries around the inappropriate use of their work for training large […]

July 17, 2024

CCC launches collective licence for AI

On 16 July, US copyright management organisation Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) announced its collective licensing solution for content usage in internal artificial intelligence (AI) systems. You can see CCC’s announcement here. The licence to re-use content for AI is part of CCC’s Annual Copyright Licences for businesses. Similar licensing solutions are also being developed in […]

July 16, 2024

Olivia Lanchester to step down as CEO of Australian Society of Authors

The Board of the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has announced that Olivia Lanchester, its CEO for the last five years, will be stepping down later this year: see here. Before becoming CEO in 2019, Olivia was the ASA’s Legal Services Manager for four years. Among the many things she has achieved for her members, […]

July 15, 2024

Copyright Agency announces Terri Janke’s appointment to the Board

Copyright Agency Chair, Dr Kate Harrison, is pleased to welcome Terri Janke as an Independent Director to the Board. Terri replaces Jason Eades, who recently stepped down after six years as a director. Terri brings a wealth of experience to the Copyright Agency Board. A Wuthathi, Yadhaigana and Meriam woman and an international authority on […]