Law to contain Copyright breach coming

A new legislation to contain breach of copyright and provide punitive measures to offenders may become law next year.

The Copyright (Infringement File Sharing) Amendment Bill passed its first reading in Parliament on April 22 and the progress seems promising.

Commerce Minister Simon Power, who introduced it in the debating chamber, said it incorporated a three-stage regime.

“It would deter illegal file sharing but at the same time give file sharers adequate warnings that unauthorised sharing of copyright works is illegal. The proposed legislation also provides effective methods for copyright owners to enforce their rights,” he said.

As well as extending the power and jurisdiction of the Copyright Tribunal, the Bill provides for a maximum penalty of $15,000.

Mr Power said Copyright owners may also seek suspension of an internet account for up to six months through the District Court.

“Online copyright infringement has been especially damaging for the creative industry, which has experienced significant declines in revenue as file sharing has become more prevalent,” he said.

The proposed legislation seeks to amend the Copyright Act 1994 to provide new enforcement measures against the unauthorised sharing of copyright material through the Internet.

Mr Power said file sharing involved direct or indirect transfer of material between two points on the Internet. The transfer may be between users, or between a user and a place where that material is stored.

Sharing of copyright works or parts of those works often occurs without the authorisation of the copyright owner, constituting an infringement, he said.

“The Act currently provides civil enforcement measures that are considered ineffective in remedying infringing file sharing. For each infringement, a copyright owner must seek a court order to obtain the identity of the infringer from that infringer’s Internet service provider (ISP).

“The cost of seeking an order and taking infringement proceedings in court is generally higher than a possible award of damages for that particular infringement, acting as a barrier to the effective enforcement of copyright,” Mr Power said.

He said while the damage sustained by a copyright owner from a single file sharing infringement may be small, the prevalence of infringing file sharing in the current digital environment has a negative cumulative effect on New Zealand’s music, film, and software industries.

The bill has been referred to the Commerce Select Committee, which will report its findings to Parliament by October 2010.

Photo: Simon Power