AUS4004

Cultural policy in the information age

David Dunstan and Nick Walker

8 points
* One 2-hour seminar per week
* Second semester
* City

Objectives This subject is designed to provide students with the knowledge and analytical skills necessary for them to respond to the increasingly complex regulatory, commercial and political environment which shapes the information industries and the creative arts. Students should gain an understanding of new developments and issues in cultural policy and intellectual property law, and of the technological, economic, political, cultural and historical contexts of government policies for, and industrial practices in, the information industries and the creative arts. Students will be expected to adopt a multidisciplinary approach.

Synopsis This subject brings together a variety of strands of policy, including intellectual property rights as they are challenged and extended by the new technologies of the information age. The scope and content of intellectual property law are studied in broad terms. Copyright in particular is closely examined, as are issues of moral rights and authorship in an increasingly diverse media. The context of government, corporate and private philanthropic policies in the arts, is also examined, including issues of funding and restitution. The roles of the Australia Council and Commonwealth and State Government agencies are examined, and their initiatives evaluated. The subject considers the position of the writer, the artist, the architect, the publisher and special interest groups.

Assessment Research essay (4000 words): 50%
* Tutorial paper/short essay (2000 words): 25%
* Class presentation: 25%

Preliminary reading

Armstrong M and others Media law in Australia: A manual Oxford, latest edn
Cunningham S Framing culture Allen and Unwin, 1992
Golvan C Intellectual property law Federation, 1992
Golvan C and McDonald M Writers and the law Law Book, latest edn