This project investigated the ways in which taking the author’s interest in copyright seriously could not only improve remuneration outcomes for individuals but also improve access for broader society to cultural works. It developed new empirical understandings of the cultural value lost through existing approaches to copyright, including insufficient legal mechanisms for copyright reversion, and examined how fuller protection of authorship could secure new streams of income, unlock opportunities for publishers, improve public access and give creators a fairer go.
Copyright Reversion: Reclaiming Lost Culture and Getting Creators Paid
Joshua Yuvaraj and Rebecca Giblin
Cambridge University Press, Forthcoming October 2025
This forthcoming monograph draws on the research and data conducted throughout the Author’s Interest project to evaluate the potential for well-calibrated reversion rights to address the broken copyright bargain.
Rethinking Lending Rights
Daniel Gilbert
PhD Thesis, Monash University, In Progress
Gilbert’s PhD investigates the intersection of library lending and ebooks by evaluating the application of authors’ lending rights to ebooks in Australia. Drawing on lending rights in other jurisdictions, Gilbert proposes new directions for Australia’s public and educational lending rights.
Chokepoint Capitalism: How Big Tech and Big Content Captured Creative Labor Markets and How We’ll Win Them Back
Rebecca Giblin and Cory Doctorow
Scribe Publications, 2022
Commended as one of the Financial Times’ best books of 2022, Chokepoint Capitalism examines how monopolies and monopsonies are contributing to a broken copyright bargain. It argues for stronger protections which would better guard creators’ economic interests and improve the public’s access to important culture and creative works.
U.S. Copyright Termination Notices 1977-2020: Introducing New Datasets
Joshua Yuvaraj, Rebecca Giblin, Daniel Russo-Batterham and Genevieve Grant
Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 2022
This study examined all copyright termination notices filed in the US Copyright Office. It found the system was underused, with few creators benefitting from it. The article has subsequently been cited in an amicus brief to the US Supreme Court in Markham Concepts, et al., v Hasbro, Inc., No. 21-711.
Back to the Start: Re-envisioning the Role of Copyright Reversion in Australia and Other Common law Countries
Joshua Yuvaraj
PhD Thesis, Monash University, 2021
Yuvaraj’s thesis investigated reversion rights’ potential to open up new streams of income for authors whilst improving public accessibility of our cultural literary heritage. In 2021, Dr Joshua Yuvaraj was awarded the Millie Holman Medal for the best law thesis at Monash University.
Are Contracts Enough? An Empirical Study of Author Rights in Australian Publishing Agreements
Joshua Yuvaraj and Rebecca Giblin
Melbourne University Law Review, 2021
With a focus on reversion rights, this exploratory study looked at 145 Australian trade book contracts spanning half a century to examine whether contracts, in the absence of specific statutory provisions, sufficiently protect creators’ rights.
Why Were Commonwealth Reversionary Rights Abolished (And What Can We Learn Where They Remain?)
Joshua Yuvaraj and Rebecca Giblin
European Intellectual Property Review, 2019
This article investigates the development and subsequent removal of the 1911 imperial copyright reversion right in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and evaluates the reversion right in Canada to the extent it still exists.
A New Copyright Bargain? Reclaiming Lost Culture and Getting Authors Paid
Rebecca Giblin
Columbia Journal of Law & Arts, 2018
This article envisages a new copyright bargain, within the confines of the unamendable Berne and TRIPS conventions, that would better manage authors’ incentives to continue to create and disseminate their works whilst simultaneously ensuring they receive appropriate rewards for these contributions.
The Author’s Interest project was led by Professor Rebecca Giblin. The research team also included Dr Joshua Yuvaraj (University of Auckland), Dr Ula Furgal (University of Glasgow) and Daniel Gilbert (Monash University).