Copyright Reform in the Early Twentieth Century: The View from Australia

Abstract

The passage of the Copyright Act 1911 marked a key moment in the development of modern copyright law throughout the British empire. This article seeks to further what we know about the origins of the 1911 Act by examining the attitude of the newly-formed Commonwealth government of Australia towards imperial copyright reform. It seeks to explain why the Commonwealth government became an enthusiastic advocate of imperial unity in copyright matters at a time when Anglo–Australian relations were often strained. It argues that the Australian Copyright Act 1905 fed into a broader process of copyright reform that helped ease Australian acceptance of the 1911 Act. This insight challenges the image o..