Board of directors

Jeremy Thorpe

Jeremy is a regulatory economist and a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. One of his areas of specialisation is in the economic analysis of copyright issues. Such work includes: the determination of appropriate level and structure of copyright licences and royalty rates; the assessment of the impact of piracy; the valuation of copyright industries; and the assessment of costs and benefits associated with changes to copyright law. Jeremy is currently completing a PhD in law from the University of Technology Sydney, looking at empirical assessment of Australian copyright litigation. Jeremy now serves as chair of the board.

Megan Cope

Megan Cope is an emerging Indigenous artist; environment, identity, mapping and decolonizing methodologies are a primary aspect of her practice. She is a descendant from the Quandamooka region (North Stradbroke Island) in South East QLD. Megan’s works have been presented in Australia and abroad, including in the ARC Biennial in Brisbane, the Koori Heritage Trust in Melbourne, and Wellington City Gallery in New Zealand. In addition, Megan has managed and curated several art spaces and projects including 'tinygold', Desperate Spaces, the artist handbook So You Want To Be An Artist and she was the Creative Director of the Brisbane Artist Run Initiatives (BARI) Festival from 2009-10. Megan is now a member of the Aboriginal art collective proppaNOW and currently manages the Salt Water Murris Quandamooka - Art Gallery on North Stradbroke Island.

Tim Denny CPA, BBus (Acc/Fin)

Tim has worked in the field of copyright for more than 20 years, specialising in the intellectual property held in musical works. Tim is currently the Deputy Chief Financial Officer of APRA|AMCOS and in addition, manages the accounting function of the Australian Music Centre.

Merilyn Fairskye

Merilyn Fairskye is an artist who lives and works in Sydney, Australia. She uses video, photomedia and installation to engage with the mapping of bodies, identities and terrains in uncontrolled technological environments. Her work is exhibited within Australia and internationally and is represented in numerous public collections. She has been awarded artist residencies in the USA, Italy, France and Australia and has been the recipient of many Australia Council and Australian Film Commission grants, and a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship. She is an Associate Professor at Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney. She has previously served as President of the IMA, Brisbane, as Co-Chair, Artspace, Sydney and as a member of the Arts Advisory Committee of Arts NSW. Merilyn is a Viscopy member.

Kath Fries

Kath Fries is a Sydney based artist, working primarily in temporal site-sensitive installations, which she exhibits in national sculpture festivals and Artist-Run-Initiatives. Kath graduated with a BFA Honours from UNSW College of Fine Arts and was recently awarded a post-graduate MVA from Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney. Alongside her active art practice Kath has also been employed in Sydney and London by a range of visual art organisations and galleries, currently she is working in visual arts education. Kath is a member of Viscopy and has been active in the establishment of the John Fries Memorial Prize for Emerging Artists.

Des Griffin

Des graduated with a Masters degree in science from Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand in 1962 and obtained his PhD from the University of Tasmania in 1966. He joined the Australian Museum in 1966 as an Assistant Curator eventually becoming the Director from 1976 through 1998. He is presently the Gerard Krefft Memorial Fellow (an honorary position) at the Australian Museum. He was Chairman of the Arts Industry Advisory Committee for the University of Technology, Sydney from 1999 through 2009. Des has a long standing interest in the arts and has published extensively on many aspects of museums and relations with communities and with Indigenous peoples. He was the first President, from 1993 through 1996, of Museums Australia. Des was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1990 in recognition of services to museums.

Lynette Riley

Lynette has over 30 years working experience, as a teacher and in Aboriginal education and administration within: primary school; high school; TAFE; state office and Universities. Lynette was one of the founding members of the NSW DET Aboriginal Education Unit which created the first Aboriginal Education Policy in 1982, much of which was based on her research under-taken in 1980, whilst completing studies at ACAE. She was extensively involved in establishing the NSW AECG, and co-ordinated the first ever AECG conference in the early 80’s. She has also been instrumental in establishing Aboriginal presence in Universities establishing one of the first support programs within Australia at the UNE, Oorala Centre (1986-1992). Lynette currently works in the Koori Centre, University of Sydney, as Academic Co-ordinator and as a Senior Lecturer.

Alida Stanley

Following her graduation from the University of New South Wales Law School in 1998, Alida worked as a Solicitor in Mallesons Stephen Jaques in telecommunications, intellectual property and information technology. In 2000 Alida moved to New York where she worked in the law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP specialising in intellectual property and information technology transactions, competition and regulatory law. Upon returning to Sydney in 2005, Alida worked as the Senior Solicitor at the Arts Law Centre of Australia representing artists and arts organisations and as a Solicitor in the Office of General Counsel at The University of Sydney. Alida is a passionate supporter of the arts in Australia.

Chris Westworth

Chris Westworth is a former partner of Ernst & Young, having worked with the firm in the UK and Denmark before moving to Australia in 1985. He is currently Chairman for the Kolling Foundation and a board member for the Australian Institute of Management (NSW and ACT) and Viscopy. He was also a Former director of Pacific Opera. Chris holds a Bachelor of Law with honours from University of Bristol and both an FCA and MAICD.

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