The Government is asking for public feedback on a proposal to deal with policing copyright law on the Internet.

The proposal is intended to provide a fair and efficient process for copyright holders to deal with repeat electronic copyright infringements.

Unlawful file-sharing which facilitates copyright infringement on a large scale is very costly to New Zealand’s creative industries and needs to be addressed.

The proposal is the result of several months’ work by a working group comprising intellectual property and Internet law experts assisted by officials from the Economic Development Ministry.

The working group was set up by Commerce Minister Hon Simon Power to review Section 92A of the Copyright Act.

In March, the Government indefinitely delayed implementation of the section which would have required Internet Service Providers to have a policy to terminate the Internet account of repeat copyright infringers in appropriate circumstances. The decision followed concerns held by stakeholders and the Government.

Submissions on the proposal close on Friday 7 August and the Government hopes to introduce legislation in October.

The proposal sets out three phases for dealing with repeat copyright breaches and includes mediation, fines and, as a last resort, an order by the Copyright Tribunal for termination of the offending subscriber’s Internet account.

1. Where there has been suspected infringement, copyright-holders could complain to the ISP which would notify the subscriber. If there was further infringement, a cease-and-desist order would be sent.

2. If there was further infringement, the copyright-holder could apply to the Copyright Tribunal for an order to obtain the subscriber’s name and contact details.

3. The copyright-holder could then serve an infringement notice. The subscriber could elect mediation. If that failed or there was no response, the tribunal would convene, and could impose penalties ranging from fines to termination of a user’s Internet account.

A targeted group of Internet users, ISPs, and copyright owners has been invited to comment on the proposal, but the Government hopes the public will also give feedback.

The Government is confident that at the end of this process we will have a law that is clear, sensible, and fair to everyone.

The section 92A Review Policy Proposal Document is available at: www.med.govt.nz/section92a

Submissions close at 5pm on Friday 7 August 2009 and may be sent to: copyrightact@med.govt.nz

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