Atkinson, Benedict (2011) Australia's copyright history. In: Fitzgerald, Brian, and Atkinson, Benedict, (eds.) Copyright Future Copyright Freedom: marking the 40th anniversary of the commencement of Australia's Copyright Act 1968. Sydney University Press, Sydney, NSW, Australia, pp. 29-45.

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Abstract

[Extract] Psychology and nations: Psychology, understood as speculation, not science, helps the historian to make sense of what sometimes seems mysterious in national politics. Within limits of reason and commonsense, we may be justified in considering how the behaviour of nations invites analogy with that of individuals, and extrapolate from human psychology principles to explain political conduct. In the case of Australian legislative history, one psychological theory, in particular, commends itself as a partial explanation for the sometimes sabotaging conduct of Australian politicians. This is the concept of the "locus of control", proposed in the 1950s by the psychologist Julian Rotter.2 It helps to explain plausibly the elements of passivity and subservience in Australian lawmaking whenever it has involved the interests of two powers, Great Britain and the United States. Those elements are so perceptible in the pattern of Australian copyright legislation that Rotter's theory seems directly to explain why politicians passed copyright laws more accommodating to foreign interests than Australian.

Item ID:	57143
Item Type:	Book Chapter (Research - B1)
ISBN:	978-1-920899-71-4
Keywords:	Australia, Copyright Act 1968, copyright, intellectual property
Related URLs:	https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/57142/
Copyright Information:	(Open Access via publisher website.) © Sydney University Press. This work is protected by Copyright. All rights reserved. Access to this work is provided for the purposes of personal research and study. Except where permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, this work must not be copied or communicated to others without the express permission of the copyright owner.
Date Deposited:	18 Feb 2019 23:06
FoR Codes:	18 LAW AND LEGAL STUDIES > 1801 Law > 180115 Intellectual Property Law @ 100%
SEO Codes:	94 LAW, POLITICS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES > 9404 Justice and the Law > 940406 Legal Processes @ 100%
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