DRAFT Industry Guidelines to Respect Copyright and Free Speech

The relationship between copyright law and freedom of expression has always been controversial, but this tension has deepened in recent years with the rapid growth in prominence of digital technologies (e.g. online access to creative works) and the extension of copyright law (e.g. longer terms, control over end user activities). These guidelines seek to distil, from literature and cases and statutes, principles of good practice for copyright owners to identify when a free expression right is implicated in the design, use, or enforcement of copyright. It is hoped that these guidelines can be used to clarify the contours of a copyright owner’s rights, and in particular to internalise and harmonise the impact of decisions regarding the use of works on the exercise of speech rights.