New Zealand government delays copyright law review
The New Zealand government has put a review of the country’s copyright laws on hold until the end of negotiations between the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
It said that carrying out a review of the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment’s copyright legislation, which passed in 2008, while negotiations are underway would be “impractical”.
The Fair Deal coalition, which made up of New Zealand non-profits including InternetNZ and the Telecommunications Users Association and lobbies for an “open” Internet, has expressed concern about the delay, and said on its website that the TPP could stop future governments making their own decision on important issues concerning copyright.
According to a statement released by the New Zealand Green Party, “the government is admitting that the TPPA [Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement] will sign away New Zealanders rights” by delaying the copyright review until after negotiations are concluded.
Gareth Hughes, Information and Communication Technology spokesperson for the Green Party, said that the TPPA is a “secretive trade deal” which focuses on “restricting nation’s abilities to legislate against corporate interests.”
“New Zealand is well behind other countries like Australia and the UK in terms of reviewing their copyright laws in an electronic age and it is consumers, innovators and the New Zealand economy that are losers from this decision,” he said.
“New Zealand’s copyright rules should be written by New Zealanders, not outsourced to secret negotiations dominated by Hollywood.
“The National Government should reconsider their decision and commit to this review which was agreed to five years ago,” he continued.
Christopher Young, partner at Minter Ellison Rudd Watts in Auckland, acknowledged that "there is some validity to criticism" of the pace of change of New Zealand IP legislation, there has been specific and general review of the Copyright Act in recent year.
He called the TPP a very important agreement for the country. He said: "The position on copyright and other IP laws can polarise views, with positions on a spectrum from some users and developers wanting freer access to content, computer programs and other copyright works, through to other business including major rights owners who have significant financial investment in content and products wanting increased controls to protect their rights/investment including in digital formats given the difficulties with piracy and other unauthorised downloading."
"If the New Zealand government agrees to strengthen copyright laws, immediate 'direct' beneficiaries of changes of this nature will include copyright owners (leaving aside overarching economic analyses, some of which focus on end benefits to users through support to sustainability of the business model)," he added.
The TPP is a proposed free trade agreement among a group of Pacific Rim countries including Australia, Mexico and the US. Its 18th round of negotiations began in Malaysia on July 15, and concluded on July 24.
