CI report names best and worst IP regimes
Global consumer advocacy body Consumers International (CI) has released its inaugural Intellectual Property (IP) Watch list, a global snapshot of how national IP and copyright laws serve or subvert consumer interests.
The report shows that Australian consumers suffer some of the greatest restrictions in relation to use of copyrighted material including music, DVD and published works. Australia comes in behind the United States and developing countries such as India, China and Indonesia.
The overall rankings of the 16 countries studied:
- India
- South Korea
- China (PRC)
- USA
- Indonesia
- Israel
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Australia
- Malaysia
- Spain
- Chile
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Thailand
- UK
This report highlights the need for reform to the Australian copyright regime to protect legitimate consumer rights. Of particular concern is the right to transfer and share copyrighted information for non-commercial purposes. For example, current Australian laws do not allow any electronic to electronic format shifting or space shifting, such as ripping a DVD to play on your iPod.
At the moment, a person who does so could be fined or found guilty of a criminal offence. A consumer who has bought a film online should not be restricted from watching it on their portable media player – it’s manifestly unfair.
CHOICE thinks that legislative reform is needed to protect consumers’ rights to the fair use of copyrighted materials. The following changes are a few of the most basic needed to bring some balance back into copyright law and move Australia up the list closer to the USA. Such changes to Australian copyright laws should have happened with the harmonisation of laws between the US and Australia in the Free Trade Agreement.
Australians need:
- An extension of consumer rights to fair dealing beyond the current limited
circumstances - Ensuring copy protection and other technical restrictions do not stop
consumers’ enjoying their existing legal rights to the use of copyrighted
materials - Prohibition on contracting out of limitations and exceptions.
This work is licensed under a Attribution Share Alike Creative Commons license
