Section 92A: summary of submissions released

Commerce Minister Simon Power today announced the release of a summary of submissions received in response to the Section 92A proposal document put out for public consultation in July.

Mr Power said there was a high level of interest, with 113 submissions received, 40 of which were from industry organisations. 

"There seems to be general support for the proposals. They're regarded as a significant improvement on the original.

"This gives me encouragement that we're on track to developing a fair and balanced process to deal with online copyright infringement.

"The majority of submitters acknowledged the need to respect the rights of copyright owners, but want this balanced by consumer and business needs to access these original creations."

A key concern raised by some submitters was the proposal to terminate internet accounts as a remedy to copyright infringement. It was felt termination was an unreasonable ‘remedy', especially where multiple users of a single account could make identifying an infringer difficult. 

However, there was general support for the Copyright Tribunal playing the role of independent third party arbiter if necessary.

Mr Power said he was confident all issues would be carefully considered in the policy paper that will go to Cabinet later this year.

"Online copyright infringement is a problem for everyone, but especially for our creative industries.

"It's imperative we find an efficient and workable solution that satisfies all parties."

Legislation is expected to be introduced by the end of the year, and the public will have another opportunity to make submissions during the select committee stage.

The summary of submissions is available at: http://www.med.govt.nz/templates/MultipageDocumentTOC____41847.aspx