The Copyright Agency has announced a new partnership agreement with the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) that will expand on its joint commitment to educate PR and communication practitioners on copyright law.
The Copyright Agency’s director of commercial licensing, Guy Johnson, said the new partnership agreement will continue to raise the level of awareness and understanding of copyright law throughout the PR and communications community, and play a practical role in copyright compliance and recognition across the industry.
“The new agreement builds on the 2013 national agreement between PRIA’s registered consultancy group members and the Copyright Agency that offered PRIA RCG members a 10 per cent discount on copyright licences,” he said.
“It will also see the Copyright Agency increase its resources in providing critical educational training and support to consultancy owners and staff.”
When the agreement between the Copyright Agency and PRIA’s RCG was first reached in 2013, only 12 consultancies held a copyright licence.
Four years later, there is almost 100 per cent compliance across RCG members, and a significant level of practical understanding of the Copyright laws in Australia across this workforce.
Showcasing the relevance of the partnership is the development of a tailored, multi-platform program that includes educational webinars, outreach at the PRIA National Conference today in Sydney, and award sponsorship.
The Copyright Agency issues licences as a simple and effective way for PR consultancies to practice good copyright governance, ensuring that the creators of content are being recognised and compensated for their work fairly.
Once the consultancy acquires a licence, they are able to communicate content-rich material in real time to clients with the confidence that they are exhibiting their support for Australian creators without infringing copyright.
PRIA chief executive Anne Howard said the industry body id committed to ensuring that its members understand their obligations to creators and the laws around copyright, and have access to education programs to keep them up to date with copyright compliance.
“We want investment in innovation and to do that we all need to respect content creators and how content is consumed,” she said.
“This new partnership shows PRIA’s willingness to support the work of journalists, publishers and other originators of content who are critical to the successes of our businesses and clients.
“It also recognises that a growing number of our professional members are content creators in their own right, and they too need to be aware of their rights and how the Copyright Agency also supports their original work.”
