Melbourne Law School - Research Publications

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    What Happens When Books Enter the Public Domain? Testing Copyright’s Underuse Hypothesis Across Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada
    Flynn, J ; Giblin, R ; Petitjean, F (Melbourne Law School, 2019)
    A key justification for copyright term extension has been that exclusive rights encourage publishers to make older works available (and that, without them, works will be ‘underused’). We empirically test this hypothesis by investigating the availability of ebooks to public libraries across Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada. We find that titles are actually less available where they are under copyright, that competition apparently does not deter commercial publishers from investing in older works, and that the existence of exclusive rights is not enough to trigger investment in works with low commercial demand. Further, works are priced much higher when under copyright than when in the public domain. In sum, simply extending copyrights results in higher prices and worse access. We argue that nations should explore alternative ways of allocating copyrights to better achieve copyright’s fundamental aims of rewarding authors and promoting widespread access to knowledge and culture.
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    Inclusion of Combatants in Constitution-Building
    Dziedzic, A ; Ramirez, SM (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and the Constitutional Transformation Network, 2020)
    Where constitution-building occurs in a conflict-affected context, the inclusion and participation of combatants in constitution-building processes raises challenging and distinctive issues. In such contexts, constitution-building is likely to overlap with a wider peace process that comprises the negotiation of peace agreements, and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programmes.
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    Constitutional beginnings: Making and amending constitutions
    Dziedzic, A (International IDEA and the Constitution Transformation Network, 2018)
    When considering substantive changes to a written constitution, constitution-makers must decide whether to make an entirely new constitution or amend the existing constitution. The distinction between making a new constitution and amending an existing constitution is not always clear cut. Much depends on the criteria used to make the distinction.
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    Consultation, Deliberation and Decision-Making: Direct Public Participation in Constitution-Building
    Dziedzic, A (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and the Constitution Transformation Network, 2020)
    Direct public participation is now regarded as an essential part of a constitution-building process. In the 21st century, almost every exercise in constitutional reform has involved an opportunity for members of the public to engage in the process. The right to participate in public affairs is internationally recognized and a consensus has emerged that public participation is good practice in constitution-building.
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    Implementing Federalism
    Dziedzic, A (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and the Constitution Transformation Network, 2018)
    More than 25 countries around the world operate as a federation of some kind. Many more devolve power in other ways, across the country or in particular regions with special autonomy. Some of the older federations are well-established; India, Malaysia and Pakistan are examples. Others are much more recent, however. Many new constitutions provide for federation or some form of devolution. In Asia and the Pacific, for example, the new Constitution of Nepal establishes a federation, and federalism is under consideration in Myanmar, the Philippines and Solomon Islands.
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    Thanks a Bundle: Improving Support and Access to Online Telecommunications Products for Consumers with Cognitive Disabilities
    Maker, Y ; Paterson, JM ; McSherry, B ; Brophy, L ; Arstein-Kerslake, A ; Callahan, A ; Teo, E (University of Melbourne, 2018-12-13)
    This report presents the results of a 2018 study conducted by an interdisciplinary research team, which was supported by the Melbourne Social Equity Institute and funded through the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network's Grants Program. The operation of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network is made possible by funding provided by the Commonwealth of Australia under section 593 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. This funding is recovered from charges on telecommunications carriers.