Copyright law of New Zealand

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The copyright law of New Zealand is covered by the Copyright Act 1994 and subsequent amendments. [1] It is administered by Business Law Policy Unit of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). In June 2017, a review of the existing legislation was announced. [2] [3]

Contents

New Zealand is party to several international copyright agreements, including the TRIPS Agreement 1994, the Berne Convention 1928 and the Universal Copyright Convention 1952.

The Copyright Act 1994 provides owners of original work with a monopoly to control the use and dissemination of their work. The owner of the copyright in a work has the exclusive right to exploit the economic rights. A person infringes copyright in a work when he or she, other than pursuant to a copyright licence, does any of the following "restricted acts", either in relation to the work as a whole or any "substantial part" of it: [4]

Anyone who wants to use someone else's work requires the permission of the right owner. The copyright owner can assign, transfer, and license the economic rights in the work.

Copyright automatically applies (no registration required) to original works in the following categories: [4]

Copyright does not apply to certain government works, such as Acts of Parliament, Regulations, Parliamentary debates, Court judgments and reports of Select Committees, Royal Commissions, Commissions of Inquiry, etc.

Copyright protection does not last forever. The duration of copyright protection depends on the type of work. The work will eventually be out of copyright (there is no concept of public domain in New Zealand legislation). [5] This means that once copyright has expired, everyone can freely use the work. Before such time permission of the rights holder is required to use a copyrighted work. New Zealand's copyright term is largely consistent with other countries, and complies with the WIPO standard. The copyright term depends on the type of work in question. Here are some examples: [4]

In October 2021, the New Zealand government reached a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom. [6] This agreement includes a provision to extend the copyright term by 20 years for authors, performers and producers to be implemented within 15 years. [7]

Exclusions and fair dealing

The Copyright Act allows for certain permitted acts to be exempted from copyright restrictions. These include:

Moral rights

Besides protecting the economic rights of the author, copyright law also protects the moral rights of an author. Moral rights protect the author from distortion, mutilation or other modification of the work where that act would be or is prejudicial to the reputation of the author. Moral rights are inalienably attached to the author and cannot be transferred. Some moral rights can, however, be waived. Moral rights give the author for instance the right to:

New technologies amendments

In 2001, [8] the Ministry of Economic Development initiated a major review of copyright law, in light of new technologies, such as media in digital form and communications via the internet. Law changes were enacted in 2008, most notably the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act. [9] These changes were influenced by media corporations and aligned organisations (RIANZ, APRA, Artists Alliance, NZSA, AIPA, NZIPP, etc.), but opposed by New Zealand artists, [10] technology specialists, [11] ISPs, [12] businesses, [13] media commentators, [14] librarians [15] and members of the public. [16] The nature of the law changes attracted attention internationally. [17] Prime Minister John Key stated that the stronger copyright laws, including the controversial section 92a, were required for New Zealand to be able to negotiate a free trade agreement with the United States. [18]

In February 2010, a Bill repealing section 92a of the Act was introduced to parliament, replacing it with a three notice regime for copyright infringement via file sharing. [19] The bill also provides for the Copyright Tribunal to hear complaints and award penalties of up to $15,000. [20] The notice regime took effect on 1 September 2011. [21]

In 2013, the Copyright Tribunal decided 17 cases pertaining to illegal file sharing. In all 17 cases, the applicant was the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) taking action on behalf of the copyright holders against individual Internet account holders. [22] None of the account holders were infringing on a commercial scale for profit. In most cases the infringement concerned the uploading of music using BitTorrent file-sharing protocols. [23]

See also

Related Research Articles

A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself. A copyright is subject to limitations based on public interest considerations, such as the fair use doctrine in the United States.

Recorded Music NZ is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded Music NZ is open to any owner of recorded music rights operating in New Zealand, inclusive of major labels, independent labels and self-released artists. Recorded Music NZ has over 2000 rights-holders.

The Copyright Act of Canada is the federal statute governing copyright law in Canada. It is jointly administered by the Department of Industry Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage. The Copyright Act was first passed in 1921 and substantially amended in 1988 and 1997. Several attempts were made between 2005 and 2011 to amend the Act, but each of the bills failed to pass due to political opposition. In 2011, with a majority in the House of Commons, the Conservative Party introduced Bill C-11, titled the Copyright Modernization Act. Bill C-11 was passed and received Royal Assent on June 29, 2012.

A copyright is the legal protection extended to the owner of the rights in an original work. Original work refers to every production in the literary, scientific, and artistic domains. The Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHL) is the leading agency responsible for handling the registration and conflict resolution of intellectual property rights and to enforce the copyright laws. IPOPHL was created by virtue of Republic Act No. 8293 or the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines which took effect on January 1, 1998, under the presidency of Fidel V. Ramos.

The droit d'auteur developed in the 18th century at the same time as copyright developed in the United Kingdom. Based on the "right of the author" instead of on "copyright", its philosophy and terminology are different from those used in copyright law in common law jurisdictions. It has been very influential in the development of copyright laws in other civil law jurisdictions, and in the development of international copyright law such as the Berne Convention.

The Copyright Act 1957 as amended governs the subject of copyright law in India. The Act is applicable from 21 January 1958. The history of copyright law in India can be traced back to its colonial era under the British Empire. The Copyright Act 1957 was the first post-independence copyright legislation in India and the law has been amended six times since 1957. The most recent amendment was in the year 2012, through the Copyright (Amendment) Act 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988</span> United Kingdom law

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, also known as the CDPA, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that received royal assent on 15 November 1988. It reformulates almost completely the statutory basis of copyright law in the United Kingdom, which had, until then, been governed by the Copyright Act 1956 (c. 74). It also creates an unregistered design right, and contains a number of modifications to the law of the United Kingdom on Registered Designs and patents.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to intellectual property:

Crown copyright is a type of copyright protection. It subsists in works of the governments of some Commonwealth realms and provides special copyright rules for the Crown, i.e. government departments and (generally) state entities. Each Commonwealth realm has its own Crown copyright regulations. There are therefore no common regulations that apply to all or a number of those countries. There are some considerations being made in Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand regarding the "reuse of Crown-copyrighted material, through new licences".

Japanese copyright laws consist of two parts: "Author's Rights" and "Neighbouring Rights". As such, "copyright" is a convenient collective term rather than a single concept in Japan. Japan was a party to the original Berne convention in 1899, so its copyright law is in sync with most international regulations. The 1899 law protected copyrighted works for 30 years after the author's death. Law changes promulgated in 1970 extended the duration to 50 years. However, in 2004 Japan further extended the copyright term to 70 years for cinematographic works. At the end of 2018, as a result of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and a requirement stemming from the EU–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement., the 70 year term was applied to all works. This new term was not applied retroactively; works that had entered the public domain between 1999 and 29 December 2018 (inclusive) due to expiration remained in the public domain.

The copyright law of Australia defines the legally enforceable rights of creators of creative and artistic works under Australian law. The scope of copyright in Australia is defined in the Copyright Act 1968, which applies the national law throughout Australia. Designs may be covered by the Copyright Act as well as by the Design Act. Since 2007, performers have moral rights in recordings of their work.

Fair dealing is a limitation and exception to the exclusive rights granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. Fair dealing is found in many of the common law jurisdictions of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Under the law of the United Kingdom, a copyright is an intangible property right subsisting in certain qualifying subject matter. Copyright law is governed by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended from time to time. As a result of increasing legal integration and harmonisation throughout the European Union a complete picture of the law can only be acquired through recourse to EU jurisprudence, although this is likely to change by the expiration of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020, the UK has left the EU on 31 January 2020. On 12 September 2018, the European Parliament approved new copyright rules to help secure the rights of writers and musicians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copyright infringement</span> Usage of a copyrighted work without the authors permission

Copyright infringement is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, display or perform the protected work, or to make derivative works. The copyright holder is typically the work's creator, or a publisher or other business to whom copyright has been assigned. Copyright holders routinely invoke legal and technological measures to prevent and penalize copyright infringement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act 2008</span>

The Copyright Amendment Act 2008 was an act passed by the New Zealand Parliament amending the Copyright Act 1994. It received Royal Assent on 11 April 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand Internet Blackout</span> 2009 New Zealand internet services protest

The New Zealand Internet Blackout was an online protest organised by the Creative Freedom Foundation NZ (CFFNZ) against changes to copyright law in New Zealand. It constituted two separate blackouts: one in 2009 to protest Section 92A of the Copyright Amendment Act 2008; and another in 2011 to protest the Copyright Amendment Act 2011, although the CFFNZ did not take part in this one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copyright Act 1994</span> Act of Parliament in New Zealand

The Copyright Act 1994 is an Act of Parliament passed in New Zealand that, along with its various amendments, governs copyright in New Zealand. It is administered by Intellectual Property Policy Unit of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Act 2011</span>

The Copyright Amendment Act 2011 is an Act of the Parliament of New Zealand which amends the Copyright Act 1994.

Copyright law of South Korea is regulated by the Copyright Act of 1957. It has been amended several times, with a recent 2009 revision introducing a three strikes policy for online copyright infringement.

The Copyright law of El Salvador is legal rights to creative and artistic works under the laws of El Salvador. It was implemented in the Decree No. 604 of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador on 16 of August 1993. This law aims to protect the economic and moral rights of Salvadoran authors and foreigners residing in El Salvador, granted by the mere fact of creating works that are literary, artistic and scientific.

References

  1. ↑ "Copyright Act 1994". New Zealand Government. 1 December 2008.
  2. ↑ "Government launches review of the Copyright Act 1994". The Beehive. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  3. ↑ NZ Government (8 July 2020). "Review of the Copyright Act 1994". Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). Wellington, New Zealand. Retrieved 16 December 2020. Publication date shown is the page last modified date at the time of access.
  4. 1 2 3 "Copyright protection in New Zealand | Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment". www.mbie.govt.nz. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "A look at the rights in cultural heritage collections". natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  6. ↑ "New Zealand secures historic free trade deal with the United Kingdom". The Beehive. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  7. ↑ "Explainer: New Zealand - United Kingdom FTA Agreement in Principle". The Beehive . 21 October 2021. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "Digital Technology and the Copyright Act 1994: A Discussion Paper". MED. July 2001.
  9. ↑ "Section 92a of the Copyright Act". New Zealand government.
  10. ↑ "Section 92 of the Copyright Amendment Act assumes Guilt Upon Accusation". Creative Freedom NZ. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  11. ↑ Wallace, Brenda (12 November 2008). "Say good bye to freedom on the internet - was nice while it lasted". Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
  12. ↑ Keall, Chris (21 January 2009). "ISPs: New copyright law puts business in the gun; scrap it". Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2009.
  13. ↑ "Guilt Upon Accusation: New Zealand Businesses". Creative Freedom NZ. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
  14. ↑ Jackson, Colin (7 October 2008). "Ministers: why we changed the Copyright Act".
  15. ↑ "Now librarians come out against copyright law". Computerworld. 20 January 2009. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2009.
  16. ↑ Pilcher, Pat (13 January 2009). "Is the new copyright law a lose-lose proposition?". New Zealand Herald.
  17. ↑ Gibbs, Mark (20 February 2009). "New Zealand gets insane copyright law". ComputerWorld. Archived from the original on 2 March 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  18. ↑ "Key: We still need a new internet copyright law". stuff.co.nz. NZPA. 24 February 2009.
  19. ↑ Power, Simon (23 February 2010). "Section 92A bill introduced to Parliament today".
  20. ↑ "NZ Copyright Infringement Regime – Illegal File Sharing". LawDownUnder. 30 January 2013.
  21. ↑ Walls, Alex (4 August 2011). "'Three strikes' file sharing law coming sooner than you think". Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  22. ↑ "Copyright - New Zealand Ministry of Justice". www.justice.govt.nz.
  23. ↑ "Copyright Infringement File Sharing". LawDownUnder. 28 December 2013. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
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