Creatives hail prospect of law review

Fans of shows such as Fargo, starring Kirsten Dunst have paid for online streaming services or Sky since the 2011 copyright law amendments.

Minister says Copyright Act shakeup likely.

New Zealand's creative industry looks set for a shakeup with a review of the Copyright Act tipped.

Commerce Minister Paul Goldsmith said a review of the 21-year-old act was likely to follow a study of the creative sector's use of copyright and registered designs, which started in October and is expected to be concluded by the end of next year.

InternetNZ work programme director Andrew Cushen applauded the Government's move, saying the act was outdated.

"Broadly speaking the Copyright Act is pre-internet," Cushen said. "[It] takes us back to the mid-90s when very few New Zealanders were connected and certainly internet use was nowhere near what it is now both in terms of its capability and potential.

"Some of the concepts included in our laws need to be relooked at for the times we now live in."

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment began the study to work out the effect of new technology and the internet on industries whose work is protected by copyright. The reviews cover music, film and TV, gaming, software, written content, product design such as fashion and architecture, and other visual content such as performing arts, photography and advertising, resulting in a series of reports on each of those sub-industries.

"My officials are talking to each of those groups trying to get a better understanding of how that industry operates and how the copyright legislation, upon which ultimately their IP [intellectual property] is based, works for them," Goldsmith said. "It's the preliminary step that, more likely than not, will lead to a review of copyright legislation down the track."

"Anybody who looks around and sees the pace of change in the global economy will know you've got to keep on keeping up to speed," he said.

Film and television companies had been urging the Government to crack down on streaming and downloading for years, saying it significantly affected revenue and the industry as a whole, with music artists echoing these calls.

The Government amended copyright law in 2011, introducing a "three strikes" regime where copyright owners could chase illegal file sharing through their internet service providers, and since then, new streaming models had lessened concerns around illegal downloads, according to Cushen.

Game of Thrones, House of Cards and Fargo fans have coughed up for online streaming services or Sky since the amendments.

"We're now streaming a lot more content rather than buying and downloading - I suspect that the nature of illegal use has probably changed here in New Zealand and the market has moved on a bit as well," Cushen said.

"You now pay $12.95 for all you can eat from Spotify or you can have a free account so why would you download. There have been new models for monetising content that have meant that the concern about illegal downloading may be lessened."

A PwC report commissioned by industry associations in the creative sector estimates they had a direct impact of $1.74 billion on gross domestic product in 2014, most of which came from the film and TV sector.