advocacy bodies

This page looks at advocacy bodies concerned with copyright and industrial property.

    

Among the representatives of the content creators, the International Federation of Reproductive Rights Organisations (IFRRO) and the Coalition of International Societies of Authors & Composers (CISAC) is an international grouping of copyright rights administration societies. 

The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) is an organisation of publishers and other IP owners, one with considerable clout in influencing government decision-making. 

The Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) is a competing body, with a greater emphasis on industrial property. It is aligned with the  International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property (AIPPI) and the International Trademark Association (INTA).

The Software Publishers Association (SPA) is one of several software industry bodies. It competes with the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a US dominated body with an international focus, concerned with lobbying, education and enforcement, and the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA).

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) are usually 'demon of the month' in the online music wars, opposed by bodies such as the Coalition for the Future of Music (CFM). The local counterpart is the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA). The global bodies are the International Federation for the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).

The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) is one of a number of bodies representing writers and has recently announced an interesting electronic publishing testbed with Australia's IPR Systems.

     independent

Among non-government bodies the Australian Copyright Council (ACC), headquartered in Sydney, is a not-for-profit body active in advising authors, artists and others on copyright questions. Its range of guidebooks are excellent value; its staff are both knowledgeable and friendly. We recommend it. 

The associated Copyright Society of Australia (CSA) is a body for intellectual property professionals. Its US counterpart has recently established the Friends of Active Copyright Education (FACE), an online resource centre.

The Arts Law Centre of Australia (ALC) provides advice and information to artists and arts organisations in all sectors of the cultural industry regarding contracts, copyright, insurance, defamation, business structures, employment and taxation. 

The Communications Law Centre (CLC), as the name suggests, is concerned with the internet and other communications law.

The US International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI) is "a non-profit organization geared for research and educational projects for the enhancement of global intellectual property protection". It has a strong focus on use/misuse by the third world of the IP of major corporations.

     consumers and manufacturers

The Australian Digital Alliance (ADA), is a new advocacy group concerned with the use of copyright, in particularly by libraries and scholars.

The US-based Digital Future Coalition (DFC) is one of a range of advocacy bodies that don't always see eye to eye with the IIPA. It's more broadly based than most, with support from library, telecommunications, manufacturing and consumer rights interests.

The EU-based Alliance For A Digital Future (ADF) is a public-interest coalition concerned with the major European copyright reforms and other digital legislation. It is strongly supported by parts of the EU consumer electronics and telecommunications industries. 

The Ad Hoc Copyright Coalition (AHCC) is the ADF's US counterpart. 

The American Committee for Interoperable Systems (ACIS) represents software and hardware manufacturers in favour of loosening restrictions on decompilation and other interoperability constraints.

The US Home Recording Rights Coalition (HRRC) opposes efforts by major content providers, in particular the film studios and record companies, to restrict access through legislation and technologies. Across the water Eurorights is attempting to build another consumer coalition.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a digital civil liberties group, notable for arguments that copyright is neither legitimate nor viable in the digital era. 

It was influential at the beginning of last decade but has been substantially overtaken by the US-based Centre for Democracy & Technology (CDT) and Ralph Nader's Consumer Project on Technology (CPT). The CDT has a strong interest in intellectual property, telecommunications access and privacy issues.

In spirit the EFF's close to Richard Stallman's Free Software Foundation (FSF), inspired by the argument that all software should be free. It advocates a 'copyleft' standard for web publications. Both the EFF and FSF have spawned other bodies, such as FSF Europe and Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA). The League for Programming Freedom (LPF) is another US free software body, primarily concerned with patents.

The Union for the Public Domain (UPD) is a US advocacy group that aims to broaden the public domain while maintaining a balance between fair use and the rights of creators.

The library and education sectors have proved to be effective advocates in articulating issues and lobbying government in Australia and overseas. At an international level the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) lobbies the EC and other fora. In the US the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is prominent. Closer to home the Australian Library & Information Association (ALIA) has been influential. 



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