Marita Shelly

An investigation of TBL report assurance statements: UK and European evidence

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to document a study of European and UK triple bottom line (TBL) report assurance statements.Design/methodology/approach – In undertaking the research, an international database was constructed from which all known European and UK third‐party assurance statements that accompanied the release of TBL reports were selected for review.Findings – The results of the analysis indicate that there is much variability and ambiguity inherent within the contents of the third‐party statements.Research limitations/implications – The UK and European reports included within the database compiled by the researchers provide the basis of the information used to develop this paper. In selecting assurance statements to include within the database, the latest TBL report from each reporting organization was obtained (and it should be appreciated that many organizations do not produce TBL reports on an annual basis). Of the 170 reports available internationally at the time the research was u...

Commercial Activities and Copyright in Australian Universities.

With government funding for most Australian universities below 60% and falling a major strategic emphasis for universities has been on securing other sources of operating revenue, including commercial opportunities and partnerships. The implication of increasing commercial activities such as non-award and tailored professional programmes, contract research and consultancies within a university environment raises a number of issues in relation to copyright. This paper will discuss whether the educational provisions (including section 200AB introduced in the 2006 amendments) or the fair dealing provisions within the Copyright Act could be applied if copyright material is reproduced as part of a commercial activity undertaken by a university.

Black Hats and White Hats: Authorisation of Copyright Infringement in Australia and the United States

This article explores the concept of authorisation in relation to the possible liability of manufacturers and suppliers of technology if, and when, their technology is used by purchasers or other users to infringe copyright. Cases over the last 30 years brought by copyright owners or holders against the manufacturers and suppliers of technology which has the potential to infringe copyright are examined, as well as the differing copyright laws in Australia and the United States relating to the authorisation of copyright infringement. The article concludes with a discussion on the current legal approaches to authorisation and on possible future approaches.

Copyright and contracts: the use of electronic resources provided by university libraries

Universities enter into contracts with publishers or providers of aggregated resources on behalf of university libraries to provide staff and students with access to material in electronic format for educational and research purposes. Following a brief review of twelve database provider contracts, our research demonstrates that Australian academics are potentially breaching the contractual terms and conditions of electronic resources when accessing, downloading and printing articles and other materials. They are covered for research purposes, but not for educational purposes.