Copyright Policy

Background

In September 2008, the Telecommunications Carriers’ Forum (TCF) established a Copyright working party to develop a draft Copyright Code of Practice designed to assist organisations in meeting their obligations under Section 92A (s92A) of the Copyright Act. This working party was subsequently disbanded.

S92A required ISPs to have a policy to terminate the internet account of repeat copyright infringers in appropriate circumstances and was due to come into force on 31 October 2008. However this was postponed until 28 February 2009 to allow the TCF and other key stakeholders in the industry to develop an ISP Copyright Code of Practice to assist ISPs in complying with the Act. S92A was then further delayed at the request of the TCF and was due to come into force on 27 March 2009.

On 23 March 2009 the New Zealand Government announced that s92A of the Copyright Act 1994 would not come into force on 27 March as scheduled, but would be amended to address areas of concern.

Update

In July 2009 the Ministry of Economic Development released for consultation, proposed amendments to Section 92A (s92A) of the Copyright Act for feedback from key stakeholders including the Telecommunication Carriers’ Forum (TCF).

The Copyright Policy working party was established in July 2009 in response to this, to ensure a collaborative approach and unified voice in reviewing and responding to the MED proposal for amendments to s92A and to identify any requirement for further work required for TCF Members to comply with the amended Copyright Act s92A.

The TCF submission in response to the MED proposal was submitted on 7 August 2009.

On 30 April 2010, the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill was released for public submissions. The working party has now made a submission on this to the Select Committee.