Copyright law relook likely from creative sector review, Goldsmith says

Commerce Minister Paul Goldsmith expects the government will relook at its 21-year-old Copyright Act once it has wrapped up a review of the creative sector, slated for the end of next year.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment embarked on a study of the creative sector's use of copyright and registered designs in October to work out what impact new technology and the internet is having on industries whose work is protected by copyright. The reviews will cover music, film and TV, gaming, software, written content, product design such as fashion and architecture, and other visual content such as performing arts, photography and advertising, resulting in a series of reports on each of those sub-industries.

Mr Goldsmith told BusinessDesk the study is currently gathering information but will probably lead to a review of legislation.

"My officials are talking to each of those groups trying to get a better understanding of how that industry operates and how the copyright legislation, upon which ultimately their IP (intellectual property) is based on, works for them," Mr Goldsmith said. "It's the preliminary step that, more likely than not, will lead to a review of copyright legislation down the track.

"Anybody who looks around and sees the pace of change in the global economy will know you've got to keep on keeping up to speed."

The government amended copyright law in 2011, introducing a 'three strikes' regime where copyright owners could chase illegal file sharing through their internet service providers.

A PwC report commissioned by industry associations in the creative sector estimates they had a direct impact of $1.74 billion on gross domestic product in 2014, most of which came from the film and TV sector.

The MBIE review is part of a broader probe into the growing entanglement of telecommunications with other industries, notably content distribution, known as digital convergence.

Submissions from the WeCreate lobby, an aggregation of screen, writing, music, and gaming associations, said local regulation and legislation needs to protect domestic businesses and content while balancing demand for international content. Introducing ways to license New Zealand content to the world and provide cost-effective ways to address copyright remedies were needed to maximise government investment in the creative sector, it said.

(BusinessDesk)