Through education and advocacy, the Creative Freedom Foundation seeks to encourage, and promote New Zealand artists' views on issues that have the potential to influence their collective creativity. Read more about our goals →
This morning Fair Deal international had a press briefing. The coalition is announced its expanded international network amidst the TPP negotiations in Lima, Peru, and the expanded coalition consists of organisations from six of the twelve negotiating countries.
The briefing was MC’ed by TUANZ CEO Paul Brislen. Bronwyn Holloway-Smith spoke of how the TPP may affect New Zealand artists. Read on for a transcript of Bronwyn’s brief speech at the event.
Creative New Zealand have offered a public discussion paper seeking submissions about how they support and develop New Zealand music and musicians. CFF are compiling a submission to CNZ in response to this discussion paper, and we would love to hear your ideas as we develop our submission. If you would like to have your say on how music is funded by CNZ, please email your ideas to cff@holloway.co.nz (or reply to the relevant CFF Tweet or Facebook post).
Submissions to CNZ close on 17 May 2013, so please send us your ideas by Fri 10 May 2013.
You might not know it but New Zealand has a ban on commercial parallel importing of DVDs that were bought legally overseas. Australia doesn’t have a ban, and neither does the U.S. When the government previously reviewed the ban in 2008 their own studies showed that the argument for retaining the ban was “weak” but despite that it was maintained. Recently MBIE called for submissions [PDF] again on parallel importing and we responded [PDF].
The restriction limits our access to legitimate copies of works that our peers in the rest of the world are already discussing, dissecting, and deriving new ideas from. It leaves us behind the curve, but without an offsetting benefit to the New Zealand creative sector.
New Zealand artists can import movies for non-commercial use (e.g. from Amazon), albeit at an additional cost that a commercial importer could avoid through economies of scale. This effectively prices many films out of reach, or it puts additional costs on New Zealanders who will send their money offshore (with a corresponding loss of tax revenue to the New Zealand government, which supports New Zealand artists through entities such as the New Zealand Film Commission).
If the public cannot, for example, legally obtain current material in a timely manner, then they may become skeptical of copyright law as a whole – if there are no suitable legal options then people will be more likely to use illicit channels. Maintaining a ban on commercial parallel importing decreases the supply of legal alternatives which affects all artists, not just individuals seeking to create market segmentation by controlling distribution.
Historically publishers tried to restrict the resale price of second-hand books by putting a notice specifying a minimum price in the cover of the book. Absurd, right? Well the US Supreme court agreed that people could ignore that, sell their books for any price, and that principle was called the First-sale Doctrine. Recently a Thai student bought cheaper books overseas and imported them for sale but the publisher tried to use copyright to prevent the second-hand books from being sold and there’s been an ongoing court case to establish whether First-sale Doctrine applies to overseas purchases too. Today the court ruled that it does apply. As ArsTechnica report,
The importation of copyrighted goods made abroad has been an increasingly contentious issue in recent years. Easy access to Internet resale markets like eBay and Amazon have made it possible for a new breed of entrepreneurs to buy low and sell high in a wide array of areas. The Supreme Court handed these resellers a major victory today, issuing a decision [PDF] that makes it clear that the “first sale” doctrine protects resellers, even when they move goods across national boundaries.
Of course if “intellectual property” was more like real property there would have never been a lengthy court case because it’s understood that, for example, people buying a bar of chocolate can do anything they want with it. Buyers are not encumbered after their purchase. The idea of restricting what happens to a legally purchased item is just another example of how “intellectual property” is not property as we know it and rather that copyright should be thought more of as a monopoly right. That right expires in due course, and it has important limitations like Fair Dealing/Fair Use* and the First-sale Doctrine.
Over a decade ago, BitTorrent inventor Bram Cohen revolutionised the way we download videos and other files in a time-efficient manner. Now he is one of the lead developers of a new protocol called BitTorrent Live. This protocol has only just been launched, and it is set to revolutionise how artists can stream video online in real-time – offering significant innovations in resilience and significant reductions in the costs involved.
My name is Dr. Dan James (aka Dan Untitled), and I am the newest trustee for Creative Freedom Foundation. By way of introduction to my new role at CFF, I would like to highlight some of the ways that BitTorrent Live is relevant to my own creative work (providing background to some of my projects), to explain why BitTorrent Live is exciting news for New Zealand artists, and to overview some of the potential implications that need to be addressed in copyright law as this technology develops.
The 15th round of the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations will take place in Auckland from December 3rd to 12th. New Zealand artists are likely to be affected by provisions in the TPP dealing with copyright.
The Creative Freedom Foundation is part of the Fair Deal coalition, which strives to keep the TPP from changing New Zealand’s Copyright Act. We’ve grown to include 11 domestic partners and 9 international allies.
On Saturday, December 8th at Toto Restaurant in Auckland from 6 to 8pm, the Fair Deal coalition will host a public event on the TPP, featuring a number of flash talks from our international and domestic coalition members on TPP issues, intertwined with relevant performances and displays from New Zealand artists (see attached flyer for info on the presenters & artists).
Please join us for this event, which will feature free nibbles and modestly-priced beverages (first come, first served).
Could this be you? We’re looking for Kiwi artists who have made work (any media) that is relevant to issues of public domain (remaking old works), copyright and fair use (eg sampling). Works are to be screened at an upcoming event in Auckland in early Dec, and there is room for short live performances too.
There is a budget for artist fees for contributors. If you would like your work to be considered, please get in touch with curator Dr. Dan James ASAP: danuntitled at gmail dot com. Note that this project is a very fast turnaround – the deadline for expressions of interest is 5pm Fri 16 Nov.
The CFF are glad to be part of a coalition of groups behind the Fair Deal campaign, focusing on copyright changes at stake in the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement. The Fair Deal campaign launched yesterday. Media Release follows…
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ACTA was supposedly brought in to protect artists but it would have done more harm than good. Thankfully it’s been killed in a vote in the EU with 478 against and only 39 for.
Strasbourg, July 4th 2012 – The European Parliament rejected ACTA by a huge majority, killing it for good. This is a major victory for the multitude of connected citizens and organizations who worked hard for years, but also a great hope on a global scale for a better democracy. On the ruins of ACTA we must now build a positive copyright reform, taking into account our rights instead of attacking them. The ACTA victory must resonate as a wake up call for lawmakers: Fundamental freedoms as well as the free and open Internet must prevail over private interests.
Read more at laquadrature.net.
Copyright in New Zealand (image courtesy of Wikipedia http://bit.ly/yAcWwi )
Last week the CFF attended a Stakeholders Briefing on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a treaty that will affect copyright in New Zealand, the United States and other nations. New Zealanders have just spent in excess of $600,000 to develop an enforcement regime (apparently for the benefit of Rihanna) in the Infringing File Sharing Act, but more changes are on the way that affect public and artistic rights.
1. The negotiations continue to be secretive even by WIPO standards. Some documents won’t be released for at least four years after the agreement is signed.
2. The US are pushing for New Zealand to adopt:
