Thursday, April 14, 2011

NEWS RELEASE – Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill

Owners of copyright in literary works welcome the enactment of the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill that will come into effect on 1 September 2011.
As we continue to find new ways of creating, copying and communicating material in the digital environment, copyright protection has never been more important. We welcome the framework for a fair and efficient process to deal with copyright infringement claims in the digital environment.

The implementation of this legislation comes at a critical time for the New Zealand literary sector with the launch of http://www.greatnzebooks.co.nz/ due in the middle of the year. This initiative, funded by CLL and owned by NZ Society of Authors and the Publishers Association of NZ, will collectively offer NZ digital books to the reading public. This will be the kick-start of digital publishing in New Zealand and while this offers significant opportunities for authors and publishers, it also presents significant risks with the potential mass distribution of their works through illegal file sharing.

CEO of CLL, Paula Browning says, “We congratulate the Government on taking this step that will help to protect New Zealand authors and publishers’ income streams and the investment that this provides into the future creation of New Zealand books. We also look forward to working with cellular network providers on the implementation of systems on their networks prior to the implementation of this part of the legislation in October 2013.”

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