BIG BROTHER
CODE of PRACTICE
Relating to Books That May Infringe Censorship Laws

of 4 April 1997

This page is located at

http://danny.oz.au/freedom/CCparody.html

This Code has been prepared by the Broadly Ignorant Group for Brutal Removal of Offensive Things in Higher Education Research (BIG BROTHER).

The Code is intended to provide guidance to University Directors of Publishing regarding the regulation of the behaviour of their staff and student users in the context of book use.

The present version contains elements of the Code intended to ensure conformance with the emergent regulatory regime relating to content that may infringe censorship laws.

Objectives

The primary purpose of University Publishing Services organisational units is to provide services to the university community.

That primary objective is subject to a range of constraints, including:

• practicality and humanity of procedures;
• respect for intellectual freedoms;
• respect for social norms;
• compliance with the law; and
• financial limitations.

Overview

The Code comprises the following elements:

• statements of the obligations of the various parties;
• mechanisms for communicating the terms and conditions of use to the parties who are subject to them;
• mechanisms for dealing with breaches;
• actions to deal with breaches; and
• definitions of key terms;

Each university needs to implement the elements of the Code in such a way that they integrate with relevant laws within the local jurisdiction, the institution's existing internal and external governance scheme, and its internal regulatory instruments and mechanisms, including appeals processes.

Access to information about the current state of Relevant Law is needed by Directors, their staff, other University staff and students. To facilitate this access, BIG BROTHER proposes to provide and maintain the following:

• reference material, at http://danny.oz.au/freedom/

Obligations of the Parties

Obligations of a Publisher

In order to be compliant with this BIG BROTHER Code of Practice, a University whose Publishing Services organisation fulfils the role of a Publisher is to recognise and comply with the following obligations:

• In relation to Relevant Law, and the terms and conditions applying to the services they acquire from printers:
  • inform themselves about them; and
  • comply with them
• Establish Terms and Conditions of Use (T&C), including:
  • the imposition of the obligations on Readers and Authors expressed in this Code
  • the specification of means whereby the Publisher will be able to deal effectively with Breaches. These are to:
    • empower the Publisher to take appropriate action where Breaches are reasonably believed to have occurred; and
    • protect the Publisher against liability to affected Readers and Authors, where such action is undertaken on reasonable grounds, and in a reasonable manner
  • acknowledgement by Readers and Authors that the Publisher is not liable for any harm arising from reasonable actions undertaken by the Publisher on reasonable grounds
• Communicate to Readers and Authors their obligations under the T&C
• Facilitate access to information that will assist Readers and Authors to:
  • understand and comply with their obligations under Relevant Law and under the T&C; and
  • be aware of and understand Book-Labelling and the use of whiteout in applying Library Classification Schemes.
• Make reasonable endeavours to provide infrastructure such that Readers and Authors can conveniently and cost-effectively comply with Relevant Law and the T&C
• Encourage Readers to recognise and conform with literary conventions and scholarly etiquette
• Encourage Authors to use available facilities:
  • where a Author writes Books that are subject to legal restrictions, to make reasonable endeavours to restrict access to appropriate persons; and
  • where an approved Book-Classification scheme and classification exists, to apply Book-Labelling to their Books
• Establish and maintain mechanisms whereby Breaches can be dealt with
• Where reasonable grounds exist for believing that a Breach may have occurred, take appropriate action
• Ensure that relevant employees and agents are appropriately trained in relation to Relevant Law, the T&C, and procedures designed to ensure that they are complied with

Obligations of an Reader

The following obligations of a Reader (including University staff and students who fulfil that role on behalf of the University) are to be established by the Terms & Conditions of Use (T&C) imposed by a BIG BROTHER Code of Practice-compliant Publisher:

• In relation to Relevant Law and the T&C:
  • inform themselves about them
  • comply with them
  • where a Reader is a legal person, ensure that relevant employees and agents are appropriately trained in relation to them, and to procedures designed to ensure they are complied with
• Where a Reader encounters Books that they consider may be in Breach, communicate this to the relevant Author and/or Publisher, as appropriate

In addition to the above obligations, it is recommended that Readers:

• Exercise control over access by young people to Books that are subject to legal restrictions
• Inform themselves about Censorship Systems that take advantage of Book Labels

Obligations of an Author

The following obligations of a Author (including University staff and students who fulfil that role) are to be established by the T&C imposed by a BIG BROTHER Code of Practice-compliant Publisher. These obligations are additional to those which a Author incurs by virtue of being a Reader:

• Inform themselves about Book-Labelling
• Where a Author writes Books that may be offensive to some Readers, display an appropriate warning on the cover of the Book

In addition to the above obligations, it is recommended that Readers:

• Where a Author writes a Book that is subject to legal restrictions, take reasonable precautions to restrict access to appropriate persons
• Where an approved Book-Classification scheme and classification exists, accurately label at least those Books which are subject to legal restrictions

Mechanisms for Communicating the Terms and Conditions of Use

An Publisher is to seek acknowledgement by each Reader and each Author that they accept the T&C, prior to their use of any printed material. This may be performed as part of the undertaking by the Reader or Author to comply with the University's Rules as they apply at any particular point in time.

An Publisher is to facilitate access by each Author and Reader to information concerning Relevant Law and the T&C.

An Publisher is to provide each Author and Reader with occasional reminders of Relevant Law and the T&C.

Mechanisms for Dealing with Breaches

An Publisher, and a Author that is a legal person, are to:

• Establish and maintain means for receiving and dealing with information that suggests that a Breach may have occurred;
• Establish and maintain procedures for investigation and resolution of such matters; and
• Designate one or more Responsible Persons who are to ensure that the above procedures are implemented.

Actions to Deal with Breaches

On receipt of information that suggests that a Breach may have occurred, a Author and an Publisher are to:

• Promptly communicate that information to the Responsible Person
• Promptly invoke the appropriate procedures
• Investigate the information
• Avoid any greater intrusiveness and publicity than the circumstances warrant
• Where appropriate, and only to the extent reasonably necessary in the circumstances, suspend borrowing-rights, service, or access, pending the outcome of the investigation
• Except where inappropriate, discuss the matter with any party that may have committed a Breach
• Where appropriate, acquire advice from appropriate authorities such as the Office of Film and Literature Classification, at http://www.oflc.gov.au/, or the relevant Police Force
• Where no Breach is found to have occurred:
  • promptly communicate that fact to appropriate parties; and
  • promptly reinstate any suspended borrowing-rights and return any confiscated Books
• Where a Breach is found to have occurred:
  • take prompt action, as empowered under Relevant Law and the T&C, commensurate with the gravity of the Breach; and
  • where appropriate, and in particular where the Responsible Person has reasonable grounds for believing that the Book involved is or would be Refused Classification, promptly provide relevant information to an appropriate external authority such as the relevant Police Force

Definitions

The following term is used in this document to refer to the Publishing role:

Publisher . A person that provides one or more persons with printed materials. Examples of such materials include books, magazines, newsletters, journals, and information in electronic form.

• An Publisher is generally distinguishable from a Printer , which prints books. The acquisition of printing services is subject to law, and to terms and conditions of contract, and these may influence the terms and conditions the Publisher applies to its clients.
• The relationship between an Publisher and a Printer may involve one or more intermediaries, such as the Australian Vice-Chancellor's Committee (AVCC). Any such intermediary role may also influence the terms and conditions the Publisher applies to its clients.
• Australian Universities, through their Publishing Services organisations, generally perform the role of an Publisher. When integrating the elements of this Code into their internal legal instruments, each institution may find it advantageous to replace the term 'Publisher' with a phrase such as 'the University'.

The following term is used in this document to refer to the Book consumer role:

Reader. A person that uses the services of an Publisher. This includes both an Author - see below), and a person who accesses Books provided by a Author.

• A Reader may act on their own behalf, or as an agent of some other person, e.g. their employer, by virtue of being an Authorised Officer. Academic and general staff often act as agents of the University that employs them. In some circumstances, students enrolled at a university might also act as an agent of a university.

The following terms are used in this document in relation to the Author role:

Book. All forms of information, including text and images, as well as information in electronic form;

Author. A person that makes Books available to others via Publishing services. Related terms include publisher and editor.

• Authors typically also act as a Author in the cases of the despatch of letters and enclosures to individuals and unrefereed journals.
• An Author may act on their own behalf, or as an agent of some other person, e.g. their employer, by virtue of being an Authorised Officer. Academic and general staff often act as agents of the University that employs them. In some circumstances, students enrolled at a university might also act as an agent of a university.

Throughout this document:

Person includes both natural people and non-natural persons such as corporations.

Responsible Person means a natural person delegated by an organisation to perform on its behalf one or more functions under this Code, in particular the establishment and maintenance of procedures for dealing with Breaches, and the application of the procedures in particular instances;

Authorised Officer means a natural person empowered to act as an agent of a University in relation to the use of printed material, or the provision of Books;

Relevant Law means statutes, delegated legislation and case law of a jurisdiction to which a party is subject, and which affects the provision or use of Publishing services;

Breach includes both putative and actual breaches of Relevant Law and the T&C.