re: response to the final report of the productivity ... · re: response to the final report of the...
TRANSCRIPT
DepartmentofIndustry,[email protected]:responsetotheFinalReportoftheProductivityCommissionInquiryintoIntellectualPropertyArrangements.TheNationalAssociationfortheVisualArts(NAVA)thankstheGovernmentfortheopportunitytocommentontheFinalReportoftheProductivityCommissiononIntellectualPropertyArrangements.NAVAisthepeakbodyrepresentingtheprofessionalinterestsoftheAustralianvisualandmediaarts,craftanddesignsector.Itisamembershiporganisationwitharound3,500individualandorganisationalmembersand15,000subscribers.Sinceitsestablishmentin1983,NAVAhasbeeninfluentialinbringingaboutpolicyandlegislativechangetoencouragethegrowthanddevelopmentofthevisualartssectorandtoincreaseprofessionalismwithintheindustry.NAVAprovidesadvocacyandrepresentationforthesectorandsetsindustrystandards.Ithasacommitmenttoensuringcopyrightentitlementsforvisualcreatorsandwasresponsiblefortheestablishmentin1995ofViscopythevisualartscopyrightcollectingagencyforAustralia.NAVAalsowasavigorousadvocatefortheintroductionofbothmoralrightsandresaleroyaltyrightslegislationinAustralia.BriefsummaryofNAVA’srecommendations:
- anychangestoCopyrightlawmustensureartisticcreators’workisrespectedandadequatelyremuneratedwhentheirartworksareusedbyothers;
- makechangestotheexistingfairdealingsregimeratherthanreplacingitwith‘fairuse’.Theseshouldincludechangestothelawasitrelatesto:publicart;incidentalinclusionofanartworkinafilm;Indigenousart;transformativeuse;protectionofartists’moralrights;extendingcopyrighttocoverregistereddesigns;andregulationofthirdpartycommodificationofusergeneratedremixcontent;
- harnesstheopportunitiesbeingopenedupbytechnologicaldevelopmentandapplyingindustry-ledlicensingsystems;
- makechangestointermediaryliabilityandprovideabetterfunctioningsafeharbourregime;
- ifstatutorylicencefeesforeducationandgovernmentusersareremoved,Governmentmustmakeupthefullfinancialshortfall;
- ensureindividualcreatorscangainaccesstojustice;- ifchangesaretobemadetoAustralia’sIParrangements,Governmentshould
provideresourceforacommunityeducationcampaign.
2
CopyrightPrincipleNAVAhassubmittedmanydocumentsduringthecourseofsuccessivegovernments’considerationofwhatchangesmightbeneededtotheCopyrightAct.Thesehavebeenbasedonsurveysofoursectorandtheevidenceofwhathappensinpractice,demonstratedintherequestswegetforadviceandassistanceindisputesinwhichweareaskedtoactasmediators.Oftheestimated4,000requestsforadvicereceivedbyNAVAeachyear,approximately13%areaboutcopyrightandmanyarefromartistsaskinghowtodealwithbreachesoftheirrights.NAVA’sprimaryconcernwithcopyrightistoensurethatthevisualartscreatorsofintellectualpropertyareappropriatelyprotectedandremuneratedwhentheirartworksareusedbyothers.OnbehalfofAustralianvisualartists,NAVAhascontinuedtoassertthatlegislationmustensureartistscanhavesustainablecareers,includingthroughearningincomefromcopyrightpayments.Thismeansthatartistsshouldhavedecisionmakingpoweraboutbywhomandunderwhatcircumstancestheirworkcanbereproducedandforwhatreturn.NAVAwishestoacknowledgethattheProductivityCommissionfacesachallengeintryingtoaddressthecomplexitiesoftheexistingCopyrightregime,andunderstandstheneedforthelegislationtonotunreasonablyimpedeaccessbyusersandcreatorsthemselvestoinformationandideas.However,wehaveseriousreservationsabouttheprinciplesandattitudescontainedintheCommission’sinquiryreportwhichundulyprivilegestheinterestsofusersoverthecreatorsofcontent.
Despitethebroad-scaledissatisfactionexpressedbytheartsindustrywiththeearlierversionsoftheCommission’sreportanditsrecommendations,verylittlehasbeenmodified.TheReportcontinuestoproposeintroductionoftheflawedandpotentiallyverydamaging‘fairuse’regimeandgivesperfunctorytreatmenttosignificantissuesraisedbytheindustrysuchastheneedforprotectionofmoralrightsandIndigenousrights.ReprehensibleisthecontemptanddisregarddemonstratedbythisreportforthevalueofwhatiscontributedbyartiststothepublicgoodandtheAustralianeconomyandtheimportanceofensuringtheseartisticcreatorsareabletohavesustainablelongtermcareers.Indeed,thecopyrightindustryandAustralia’sculturallifearedependentonit.Inprinciple,NAVAsupportsthepropositionthatcultureisapublicresourcethatshouldbefreelyavailableforotherstoaccess,alterorbuildupon.However,wealsomaintainthatthisneedstobebalancedagainsttherightsofcreatorstohavetheirworkandtheirprofessionalreputationrespectedandtoearnincomeiftheywishfromcommercialuseoradaptationoftheirworkbyothers.NAVAbelievesthatAustralia’scurrentsystemofexceptionsandstatutorylicences,ifappliedandmonitoredrigorously,wouldbeafairbalancebetweentheinterestsofcreatorsandusersincludingwithinthedigitalenvironment.Itrespectsthefundamentalprincipleoftherightofacreatortobenefitfromtheirinvestmentintheircreationofthought,time,skillandresources.
3
ProposedChangesHowever,NAVAproposesthatthecopyrightlawneedsthefollowingmodifications:
• thereisanexceptionloopholethatneedstobeclosedinrelationtopublicartiesections65and68shouldberepealed;
• section67needstoberepealedwhichallowsthe‘incidental’inclusionofanartworkinafilm,andalsosection68whichallowsthefilmtobeshownandbroadcast;
• newsuigenerislegislationisrequiredtodealwiththecomplexitiesofthecopyrightprincipleasitshouldapplytoIndigenousart
• copyrightshouldsubsistinvisualandmediaart,craftanddesignworksregardlessofwhetherornottheseworksareregistereddesigns
• inrelationtotransformativeusebyotherartists,NAVAcontendsthatanew‘non-commercialpersonal-use’exceptionshouldbedevelopedwhichconsiders:o degreeofappropriation;o whetheritisreusingartisticconcept,subjectmatterorstyleo howmanyworksareused;o whethertheoriginalcreatorisattributedorwouldprefernottobe;ando whetherthereusecouldcausedamagetotheoriginator’sreputationby
reflectingadverselyontheintegrityoftheoriginalworkorbeingmistakenlythoughttobealesserworkbythecreatoroftheoriginal.
AdaptiveReuseArtistshavealwaysdrawnontheinspirationoftheirpredecessorsandpeersandasserttheneedsforthiskindofartisticfreedom.Currently,artistswhouseadaptiveprocessessupporttheintroductionofa‘non-commercialpersonal-use’exemption,althoughtheyacknowledgetherearesignificantchallengesindefiningnon-commercialusage.Theyalsoproposetheneedforregulationofthirdpartycommodificationofusergeneratedremixcontent.DesignProtectionUnderthecurrentAustralianintellectualproperty(IP)laws,unlikeforworksof‘fineart’,creatorsofappliedartobjectsthatareproducedinquantityaregenerallynotentitledtocopyrightprotection,andareleftvulnerabletoblatantcopyingunlesstheyapplyfordesignprotection.Insubmissionstopreviousgovernmentreviews,NAVAhascalledforchanges.In2015,theGovernment’sAdvisoryCouncilonIntellectualProperty(ACIP)calledforresponsestoitsOptionsPaper‘ReviewoftheDesignsSystem’.Thenin2016,theProductivityCommissionaskedforsubmissionsinresponsetoits‘IntellectualPropertyArrangementsDraftReport.ThereportsbothrecognisethattherearesomeflawsinAustralia’sIParrangementsbutfailtosuggestadequateviablealternatives,suchasextendingthetermofprotectionorcreatingunregistereddesignrights.Initssubmissionstobothoftheseinquiries,NAVArecommendedthechangeswebelievearerequiredtosupportaflourishingAustraliancraftanddesignsector,inparticulartoprotectcraftpractitionersandindustrial,fashion,furnitureandlightingdesigners.
4
Australiandesignersareseeinglocalandoverseasreplicasoftheirworkbeingsoldfromwhichtheyearnnothing.ThisstymiesthebuildingofviableAustraliancraftanddesignbusinesses.Therefore,NAVAcontendsthatcopyrightshouldsubsistinvisualandmediaart,craftanddesignworksregardlessofwhetherornottheseworksareregistereddesigns.PolicyCoherenceNAVAassertsthattheGovernment’spoliciesshouldhavecoherenceandconsistency.SubmissionhaverecentlyclosedfortheGovernment’s‘Inquiryintoinnovationandcreativity:workforcefortheneweconomy’whichfocusesinparticularonhowAustralia’stertiarysystemcanmeettheneedsofafuturelabourforcefocusedoninnovationandcreativity.Withartistsbeingthepre-eminentexemplarsofapplyingcreativityintheirworkandspearheadinginnovation,surelythereneedstobecoherenceinpolicieswhichenablethiscreativityandinnovationtobeappropriatelyencouragedandrewardedinpractice.HarnessTechnologyTothisend,NAVAcontinuestoassertthefundamentalprinciplethatthecopyrightsystemshouldfocusonstreamliningcopyrightandsharingofcontentonfairtermsinparticular,ensuringfaircompensationtocreators.Ratherthanradicallychangingthelegislativeframework,NAVAbelievesthatthebestwaytoshapethesysteminfutureistoharnesstheopportunitiesbeingopenedupbytechnologicaldevelopmentandapplyingindustry-ledlicensingsystems.Asanexample,themostimportantoutcomeofthe2011UKcopyrightreviewistheadoptionoftheCopyrightHub,asystemofopensourcetechnologytoenabletheonlinelicensing,forpayment(orfreeinsomecases),forhighvolumelowvaluetransactions.SupportedbytheUKgovernment,itisnowalsoreceivingseriousattentionfromtheUSgovernmentasitreviewsitsownlegislativeandoperationalarrangements.Australiashouldlearnfromboththeinnovationandavoidthemistakesofothercountries.Ratherthanyieldingtothepressurefrommultinationalcompaniesthattradeontheirpowertoappropriateothers’IP,weencouragetheGovernmenttoexplorewaysofimprovingIPenforcement,suchaschangestointermediaryliabilityandensuringabetterfunctioningsafeharbourregime.FairUsevsFairDealingAshasbeenrepeatedlyassertedinprevioussubmissions,the‘fairuse’regimechangesthebalanceofpowerundulyinfavourofthosewishingtofinanciallyexploittheeffortofcreatorswithoutregardtotheirrighttobenefitfromtheirowncreation.Australia’scurrentfairdealingregimehasevolvedovertimetoprovideexceptionsasneedsariseandcanbejustified.Thismakesthetermsofusereasonablyclear,enablingfreeaccessunderagreedcircumstanceswhereexceptionsexist.Itestablishesspecificparametersforexceptiontotheruleratherthanrelyingoninterpretationbycourtsofthevagueterm‘fairuse’.AshasbeendemonstratedintheUS,afairuseregimeleadstocontradictoryjudgmentsbeingmadeandresultsinalackofcertaintyonallsides.Almostinvariablyitisthecreatorswholoseoutbecausetheydonothavetheresourcestopursuetheinfringersthroughthelegalsystems.
5
StatutoryLicenceFeesTheProductivityCommissionproposedanendtothepracticewhereeducationandgovernmentuserspaystatutorylicencefeesforonlinematerial.Asubstantialproportionoftheproposedsavingof$18millionperannumtotaxpayersiswhatiscurrentlygoingtoremuneratethecreatorsoftheIPbeingcopied.ThereisnoproposalbytheProductivityCommissiontofindasubstituteforthisessentialsourceofincomeforcreators.IttheGovernmentwishestoremovethisresponsibilityfromeducationandgovernmentusers,itisessentialthattheshortfallbemadeupbygovernmentthroughsomeothermeanstoensurecontinuationofsupportforAustraliancreativityandinnovation.AccesstoJusticeInenforcingadherencetofairdealingincopyright,akeyelementistoenableindividualcreatorstogainaccesstojustice.Usuallythesituationisonewhereanartististryingtoasserttheirrightsagainstexploitationbymajorcommercialinterestswithinfinitelygreaterpowerandresources.LiketheAustralianCopyrightCouncil,wesupporttheCommission’srecommendationsinrelationtotheFederalCircuitCourt.WealsourgetheGovernmenttoconsiderothermeasures,suchasaneffectivenoticeandtakedown(orstaydown)regime.CommunityEducationFinally,weproposethatifchangesaretobemadetoAustralia’sIParrangements,theGovernmentshouldprovideresourceforacommunityeducationcampaignandtherunningoftestcasestoestablishtheboundariesofanynewlegalparameters.WerespectfullyrequestthattheGovernmentensuresthatCopyrightlegislationshouldrequirethatvisualcreatorsaregiventhevaluing,protectionandrewardtheydeserveasmajorcontributorstoAustralianinnovation,economy,socialandculturalwellbeingandinternationaldiplomacyandtrade.Theintroductionof‘fairuse’risksvisualartistsbeingmadeevenmorethevictimsofunfairuse.
TamaraWinikoffOAMExecutiveDirector