Copyright Act Section 92

Section 92A bill introduced to Parliament today

A bill repealing Section 92A of the Copyright Act will be introduced into Parliament today by Commerce Minister Simon Power.

The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill repeals Section 92A and replaces it with a three-notice regime which is intended to deter illegal file sharing.
"This amendment puts in place a fair and balanced process to deal with online copyright infringements occurring via file sharing," Mr Power says.

"The major feature is the three-notice process, which educates the public about illegal file sharing and provides effective methods for copyright owners to enforce their copyright.
"It ensures that file sharers are given adequate warnings that unauthorised sharing of copyright works is illegal."
The bill also extends the jurisdiction of the Copyright Tribunal, enabling it to hear complaints and award penalties of up to $15,000 based on the amount of damage sustained by the copyright owner.

Mr Power says the bill will also enable copyright owners to seek the suspension of internet accounts through the District Court for up to six months.
"It's important that account holders are given a reasonable time to stop infringing before enforcement takes place.
"The bill prescribes timeframes so account holders have the opportunity to address illegal file sharing activity occurring on their internet connection before enforcement action is taken.
"They will also have the chance to challenge notices and may request hearings at the Copyright Tribunal to contest infringement claims.
"Regulations will outline the awards the tribunal may make and they'll be drafted later this year when the bill has been enacted.
"Online copyright infringement is a problem for everyone, but especially for the creative industry, which has experienced significant declines in revenue as file sharing has become more prevalent.
"This bill is the result of extensive consultation with stakeholders and is an important step in addressing a complex issue."


Questions and Answers:

Why are we amending the Copyright Act?
Peer-to-Peer file sharing involves the sharing of music, video and game files over computer networks such as the internet. Often this sort of sharing is without authorisation from the copyright owner, breaches their copyright, and denies them revenue they might otherwise earn if they sold these creative works.



Current enforcement measures under the Copyright Act are not considered effective. Section 92A of the Act was intended to provide a way to address this problem but was met with a lot of public concern.
A review of section 92A was undertaken, and the result of the review is that the government has decided to repeal section 92A and amend the Copyright Act to make it easier for copyright owners to enforce their rights against peer-to-peer file sharers.


What does the new legislation say?
The bill repeals Section 92A and puts in place a three-notice regime intended to deter illegal file sharing.
Copyright owners who can provide evidence of infringements will be able to request Internet Service Providers (ISPs) give alleged infringers notice to stop infringing activity.

The first notice will inform the account holder that infringing activity has occurred and that it is illegal. A second and third notice may then be sent if the account holder ignores notices and continues infringing.


Account holders will also be able to challenge notices.
If the person continues to infringe, the copyright owner may seek a compensation award at the Copyright Tribunal. The amount of the award will be up to $15,000 based on the amount of damage caused to the copyright owner.



Account holders will be able to request a hearing if they feel they should not be penalised.

The bill prescribes time frames for all aspects of the notice regime.



Why is it up to ISPs to issue notices rather than right holders?
The responsibility for issuing notices is with ISPs because only they have access to account holders' personal information. Accordingly, only they can match evidence of peer-to-peer infringement with that account holder.

Why is there a new ISP definition?
A new definition of ISP will be added into the Copyright Act specifically for the new regime. Public submissions demonstrated a concern that some organisations that aren't traditional ISPs, including businesses and universities, could be required to send notices to infringers under the current definition.

Will the new legislation allow the suspension of internet accounts?
Yes, but copyright owners must seek the suspension of an internet account through the courts. An internet suspension will only be ordered under specific and appropriate circumstances, and will only be for up to six months. The Bill requires a court to consider factors like the account holder's reliance on access to the Internet. It is expected this remedy will only be used for serious cases of infringement.

Why is this remedy up to the courts?
The decision to suspend an internet account will be up to the courts because only the courts can adequately consider both parties' arguments and take into account natural justice issues.

How much will it cost copyright owners to pursue a claim?
The fees have not been set yet and will require further consultation with stakeholders. These will be included in the regulations that will go with the new legislation. However, copyright owners will pay a fee to ISPs for the costs ISPs will incur matching evidence and sending notices. .

Copyright owners will also pay a fee to take a claim to the Copyright Tribunal. At this stage the application fee will be similar to the fee charged by the Disputes Tribunal which is between $30 and $100.
Account holders intending to defend a claim before the Tribunal will not be charged a fee.

Will this new process cost the taxpayer and if so, how much?
Yes, the Crown will need to cover the costs of setting up the Copyright Tribunal for its extended jurisdiction. Some of the cost will be recouped by the fee necessary to take a claim to the Tribunal. The cost will depend on the number of cases taken to the Tribunal which should decrease as the public become familiar with the new notice regime.

Work around this is ongoing.
This seems to have taken a long time. Has it?
No. Officials and government have been moving this process along as quickly as possible. However, there was a large volume of submissions received and they all needed to be addressed. Also, the new regime affects several Ministries so adequate inter-departmental consultation was important.
It has been a complex issue and the focus has been to provide the best possible solution that is workable and effective.

How does ACTA relate to the review of section 92A?
It doesn't. The review of section 92A is on a separate track from the ACTA discussions.

What is the process from here?
The bill has been introduced into Parliament. Following its first reading it will be referred to Select Committee, where the public will have another opportunity to make further submissions on the legislation. The Ministry of Economic Development will continue to consult with stakeholders on certain parts of the regulations that set fees and confirm how the system will work.


It is expected that the legislation will become law this year.
Where can I get a copy of the bill?
A copy of the bill can be obtained from http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Legislation/Bills/

Copyright Section 92 latest

The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill was introduced into Parliament yesterday. A press release by Commerce Minister Simon Power may be accessed at http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/section+92a+bill+introduced+parliament+today .

A copy of the bill is on the New Zealand Legislation website at http://www.legislation.co.nz/bill/government/2010/0119/latest/DLM2764301.html?search=ts_bill_copyright_resel&p=1&sr=1 .

The LIANZA Standing Committee on Copyright will now study the Bill, to see what the implications are for libraries. If necessary a submission will be made to the Parliamentary Select Committee.

Once the Bill becomes law, which is expected to be later this year, the LIANZA Copyright Guidelines and other copyright publications will be revised to take into account this new Amendment Act.

Tony Millett
Chair, LIANZA Standing Committee on Copyright tony.millett@xtra.co.nz

NDF - Copyleft & Copyright

I was at the National Digital Forum conference in Wellington earlier this week mingling with people involved in digitising and curating New Zealand’s cultural heritage material – people from museums, galleries, archives, libraries.
I was struck by a few commonalities between the cultural heritage sector (known as GLAM – Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums) and the digital news media.
Both deal with sizeable repositories of digital content, for a start, and are grappling with how best to manage those assets, ensure their longevity and make them readily discoverable.
Here are a few thoughts on a couple of themes that I picked up on from the conference, which was held at Te Papa (Museum of New Zealand). The conference was nicely organised, had some interesting guest speakers from here and overseas, and was very enjoyable (my thanks to the organisers).
Copyright/copyleft
Since passive audiences have become active users of content, we’re all trying to figure out how to manage content ownership online and get a balance between commercial imperatives, the costs of digitisation, and the need to enable innovation and maintain a lively public domain of enduring use to citizens.
This is a big issue, and complex, and I don’t propose doing it justice in this post. I just want to acknowledge that it’s an issue affecting all branches of the creative industries and wonder out loud if we can’t jobshare the task of finding local solutions.
Five years ago copryight didn’t get a mention in a journalism curriculum. Now I feel dutybound to raise it, introduce Creative Commons, have discussions about how to use images found on Flickr and Google, and introduce questions to ask yourself when publishing your own work – who do you want to be able to use it, how do you want them to be able to use it, do you want to be credited, how will you enforce your rights and so on.
Libraries and museums, meanwhile, have to track down who holds the copyright on historical images and material, decide what to do if the holder cannot be found, very often seek permission to use the material, and determine how to indicate to end users what they are entitled to do with the material (without making them read dense legislation, clauses and exceptions).
Then there’s the people, like NZ On Screen, who are dealing with archival film and television material who also have to hunt down copyright holders, very often consult dozens of people about a single video clip (producer, director, writers, etc) and manage how end users interact with the material.
Meanwhile there are anomalies in the way we reference material. We think nothing of grabbing a couple of paragraphs from a report or speech or blogpost to include in a news story or essay or artwork, but we tend to feel differently about grabbing a few paragraphs out of an audio or video clip to use in a news story or essay or artwork.
Content ownership, use and licensing isn’t simple. Laws and regulations vary in different jurisdictions, how they’re applied varies even within jurisdictions, and they are often densely written and impenetrable to your average end user. Creative Commons stands out not only for giving content creators simple licences to choose from but also for creating simple icons to describe them that are instantly recognisable.
To extend that kind of simplicity to digital content management in the New Zealand context would be fantastic.
There was also a clearly articulated need for greater education about copyright/fair use issues.
There was a suggestion at the conference that members of the forum should work together on a coherent and simple set of guides/licences/icons for New Zealand.
If that conversation continues, my instinct is that the news media should be involved. I suspect we have insights from our industry to share, and would benefit from learning more about the issues and insights of others.
After all, journalists need cultural and heritage collections for research and should be linking to them for the benefit of readers, and I suspect the news media could learn a lot about managing archives from the GLAM folk.
Visual and digital literacy
Newsrooms everywhere are trying to get journalists comfortable online and competent at storytelling in visual, aural and written forms (video, audio, images, text) so they can get their product out to their customers in whatever format they demand.
Journalism schools are finding ways to do the same while still teaching traditional skills such as writing clearly, checking facts, attributing information, providing context, avoiding ambiguity and being fair and balanced and accurate.
It’s deceptively difficult, in my experience.
You think to yourself, ‘I’ll introduce Flickr, that’s a useful resource’, then find yourself talking about how to shoot images, crop images, caption images and add metadata, search engines 101, how to use software such as Photoshop or Gimp, choose file sizes, understand compression and loss and file types, manage uploads and downloads, collaborate on content creation, use in-house content management systems, manage online accounts and profiles, understand privacy controls, host images for blogs, links, broken links, how to consider copyright and apply and acknowledge it in a variety of scenarios. Phew.
It’s not just newsrooms. The GLAM crowd face similar challenges of bringing their staff up to speed in these and other skills, because they too have to learn how to give their audiences what they want in a variety of engaging formats.
I get the feeling we’re all still finding our way and could use a bit of help.
Making our stuff findable
We can build beautiful, rich websites till the cows come home but they’re no good to anyone if people can’t easily find all that lovely content lurking beneath the homepage. That’s as true for news websites as it is for cultural archives and exhibitions, and it’s a topic that arose often in conversation at the NDF conference.
I’ve been cooling on destination websites for a while. You need to have a destination website, of course, but you need even more to have your content out where your audience is so they can trip over it often and usefully.
I often think it would be nice to create a website from the premise that you publish content all over the web and use the home site to curate it, rather than aggregating/curating first and then pushing out from your home site.
Either way, the big deal in making our content findable is…
Joining the dots
We reinvent the wheel a lot online, and we duplicate content and destinations. That’s partly because we’re all separate organisations doing our own thing. It’s partly because our stuff isn’t findable enough – I often go looking for information and come up empty, even though I know it must be out there somewhere.
But I think it’s also partly because we don’t try hard enough. We don’t allocate enough time for staff to go searching around topic areas, vet what they find, select the most relevant for users’ benefit, and think about how best to link to it.
News websites are perhaps the worst culprits. Some still don’t link out at all, to anything or anyone. Others have begun throwing in a few links to public documents and have finally brought themselves to link to, gosh, YouTube clips that they’re writing stories about. Others are doing a much better job.
But there’s often not enough evidence of news organisations behaving like they’re a member of society. There’s little thought about what a reader coming to a given news story might want to know about its background or what other questions it may raise for them. There’s little interaction with cultural, non-profit, government and other organisations with rich content that would be useful to readers.
There’s often little thought about how to provide useful links – links in stories and listed at the bottom of the page are a great start but how about ways to search other sites from the keywords generated by a news story, a way to book tickets to the show you’ve reviewed, a link to an online bookseller from a book review, a map showing the location of the story topic and a way to click through and explore the location.
Easier said than done, I know, but still.
Those are just a few things chasing round in my mind after the NDF conference. There are many more. We were shown some great sites and exhibitions as well, which I’ll try to collate into another blogpost in a while.