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Australian law This page deals with the Australian legislation, currently undergoing major changes to address the challenges of new technologies.      context Intellectual property protection in Australia, as in all advanced economies, reflects international agreements such as the Berne Convention that establish basic standards for IP protection and seek to harmonise the legal regimes of individual countries. We've explored the international agreements, and developments within particular countries such as the US and Canada, in the next page of this guide. None of the advanced economies have recently developed intellectual property legislation "from scratch", although as we note in the next part of this guide some critics have suggested such an approach or even the abandonment of copyright. Copyright reform in Australia, as elsewhere, has been slow and often painful, with ongoing amendment of legislation that essentially dates back to the first years of Federation or beyond.      the Digital Agenda reforms The Australian Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000 received royal assent on 4 September and will come into effect on 4 March 2001. A RTF version of the full text of the Bill is available on the Australian Digital Alliance (ADA) site.  The 'Digital Agenda', like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the US and similar legislation in Canada and other countries, resulted from a succession of official discussion papers and representations by stakeholders such as libraries, publishers, artists and software developers.  Aspects of the legislation will, we are sure, be disputed and ongoing tinkering seems inevitable. However, the new Act will address most of the challenges posed by the web and other digital technologies.      other copyright changes Associated draft legislation on Performers' Rights, Moral Rights and Indigenous IP protection is moving through the legislative pipeline.  The Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Bill was passed by the House of Representatives in the first week of December and is expected to come into force by the end of the year. We'll shortly offer an overview of that legislation and its implications for the online community.  A range of national reviews are underway.  The Copyright Law Review Committee (CLRC), a specialist advisory body that the Government seems delighted to ignore, is investigating particular issues from a legal perspective. Its 1998 and 1999 recommendations on Simplification of the Copyright Act have been contentious. The CLRC's currently considering the operation of the Copyright Tribunal, a specialist arm of the Federal Court. The Intellectual Property & Competition Review Committee (IPCR), established as part of the National Competition Policy, presented its final report at the beginning of December.   The Committee explored competition aspects of copyright, patents, trademarks, designs and circuit layouts legislation. It had previously released an issues paper, criticised by some as over-impressed by the rights of users at the expense of creators and investors, and a preliminary report calling for fewer restrictions on parallel imports of copyright works.      overviews  The Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department Short Guide to Copyright Law in Australia (Short Guide) is conveniently online, although does not yet reflect the 'Digital Agenda' changes. More detailed pointers to copyright sites, primers and journals are found in the tools and texts page of this guide.    next page  (international and overseas law)