Take two for section 92A - internet copyright infringement law

A paper outlining the proposed scheme for dealing with repeat copyright infringement on the internet has been released by the Ministry of Economic Development.

A Government appointed group working with Ministry of Economic Development officials has proposed a system comprising a series of warnings after which a rights holder can lay a complaint with the Copyright Tribunal. This provides an opportunity for the matter to be dealt with through mediation but failing that, the Copyright Tribunal can be asked to sort it out.

The working party has called for submissions on the proposal by Friday, 7 August 2009. Click here to view the full discussion document.

The proposed process is similar to the industry 'code of practice' that was developed by the Telecommunication Carriers' Forum. It requires that a copyright owner (rights holder) must firstly establish its rights and provide sufficient information to allow the Internet Service Provider (ISP) to identify who is causing the breach (ie - an internet subscriber). Accusing someone of copyright infringement will not be sufficient. The rights holder must also include information regarding the process under this legislation so that the internet subscriber is well-informed.

ISPs act as an intermediary between the parties, passing notices from the rights holder to the party accused of infringing copyright. The identity of the internet subscriber will not be divulged to the rights holder until the matter escalates.

If the Copyright Tribunal is asked to intervene, it will have the power to award damages or account of profits, grant an injunction, impose a fine or order termination of internet services.

It is proposed that notices of infringement will be valid for nine months. So if a second infringement occurs more than nine months after the first, then the matter cannot be escalated and the process will need to start over.

For further information, please contact our IP team

Links referenced

Click here: http://www.med.govt.nz/templates/MultipageDocumentTOC____41169.aspx
IP team: mailto:ip@duncancotterill.com?subject=e-news-enquiry

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