Brian Fitzgerald (academic)
Encyclopedia
Brian Fitzgerald is an Australian academic and Barrister
of the High Court of Australia. He is an Intellectual Property
and Information Technology/Internet lawyer who has pioneered the teaching of Internet/Cyber Law in Australia. Fitzgerald is currently a specialist Research Professor at the Queensland University of Technology
(QUT).
, and Griffith University
.
From 1998-2002, Fitzgerald was Head of the School of Law
and Justice at Southern Cross University
in New South Wales
, Australia and from 2002–2007 he was Head of the School of Law at QUT in Brisbane
.
Fitzgerald is a Chief Investigator and Program Leader for Law in the Australian Research Council
Centre of Excellence on Creative Industries and Innovation. He is also the Project Leader of Creative Commons Australia and Peer to Patent Australia and is a Program Leader for the Access to Public Sector
Information (PSI) Project within the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information. He was Project Leader for the Open Access to Knowledge Law Project studying legal protocols for open access for the Australian research sector, and for a project examining the legal framework needed to enhance e-Research.
His current projects include work on intellectual property issues across the areas of Copyright, Digital Content and the Internet, Copyright and the Creative Industries in China, Open Content
licensing and the Creative Commons
, Free and Open Source Software
, research Use of Patents, Patent Informatics Administration Licensing, Science Commons
, e-Research, Licensing of Digital Entertainment and Anti-Circumvention
Law.
Professor Fitzgerald was a member of the Australian Government 2.0 Taskforce
.
Brian Fitzgerald was featured in The Sydney Morning Herald
, The Science Show, and The Law Report discussing the copyright related legal issues.
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
of the High Court of Australia. He is an Intellectual Property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
and Information Technology/Internet lawyer who has pioneered the teaching of Internet/Cyber Law in Australia. Fitzgerald is currently a specialist Research Professor at the Queensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology is an Australian university with an applied emphasis in courses and research. Based in Brisbane, it has 40,000 students, including 6,000 international students, over 4,000 staff members, and an annual budget of more than A$750 million.QUT is marketed as "A...
(QUT).
Education and career
Professor Brian Fitzgerald studied law at QUT, graduating as University Medallist in Law, and holds postgraduate degrees in law from Oxford University, Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and Griffith University
Griffith University
Griffith University is a public, coeducational, research university located in the southeastern region of the Australian state of Queensland. The university has five satellite campuses located in the Gold Coast, Logan City and in the Brisbane suburbs of Mount Gravatt, Nathan and South Bank. Current...
.
From 1998-2002, Fitzgerald was Head of the School of Law
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
and Justice at Southern Cross University
Southern Cross University
Southern Cross University is a university based on the North and Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is a regional University with more than 14,000 students. The University's primary campus is in Lismore, with other campuses located at Coffs Harbour and Tweed Heads.The University is...
in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia and from 2002–2007 he was Head of the School of Law at QUT in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
.
Fitzgerald is a Chief Investigator and Program Leader for Law in the Australian Research Council
Australian Research Council
The Australian Research Council is the Australian Government’s main agency for allocating research funding to academics and researchers in Australian universities. Its mission is to advance Australia’s capacity to undertake research that brings economic, social and cultural benefit to the...
Centre of Excellence on Creative Industries and Innovation. He is also the Project Leader of Creative Commons Australia and Peer to Patent Australia and is a Program Leader for the Access to Public Sector
Public sector
The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...
Information (PSI) Project within the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information. He was Project Leader for the Open Access to Knowledge Law Project studying legal protocols for open access for the Australian research sector, and for a project examining the legal framework needed to enhance e-Research.
His current projects include work on intellectual property issues across the areas of Copyright, Digital Content and the Internet, Copyright and the Creative Industries in China, Open Content
Open content
Open content or OpenContent is a neologism coined by David Wiley in 1998 which describes a creative work that others can copy or modify. The term evokes open source, which is a related concept in software....
licensing and the Creative Commons
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
, Free and Open Source Software
Free and open source software
Free and open-source software or free/libre/open-source software is software that is liberally licensed to grant users the right to use, study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code...
, research Use of Patents, Patent Informatics Administration Licensing, Science Commons
Science Commons
Science Commons is a Creative Commons project for designing strategies and tools for faster, more efficient web-enabled scientific research. The organization identifies unnecessary barriers to research, crafts policy guidelines and legal agreements to lower those barriers, and develops technology...
, e-Research, Licensing of Digital Entertainment and Anti-Circumvention
Anti-circumvention
Anti-circumvention refers to laws which prohibit the circumvention of technological barriers for using a digital good in certain ways which the rightsholders do not wish to allow...
Law.
Professor Fitzgerald was a member of the Australian Government 2.0 Taskforce
Gov2Taskforce
The Australian Government 2.0 Taskforce was formed against a backdrop of increased interest by governments worldwide in the potential uses of public sector information and online engagement....
.
Brian Fitzgerald was featured in The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
, The Science Show, and The Law Report discussing the copyright related legal issues.
Books
- Cyberlaw: Cases and Materials on the Internet, Digital Intellectual Property and E Commerce (2002) ISBN 1863162089
- Jurisdiction and the Internet (2004) ISBN 0455219877
- Legal Issues Relating to Free and Open Source Software (2004) ISBN 0975139401
- Intellectual Property in Principle (2004) ISBN 0455218943
- Internet and Ecommerce Law (2007) ISBN 9780455222639
- Games and law: History, content, practice and law (2007) ISBN 101920898514
- Copyright Law, Digital Content and the Internet in the Asia Pacific (2008) ISBN 978-1920898-72-4
- Legal Framework for e-Research: Realising the Potential (2008) ISBN 9781920898939
- Going Digital 2000 (2008) ISBN 1863161503
See also
- Australian copyright law
- Copyright Scholars
- Computer Law