Friday 9:52am (1st May 2009)

NZ Copyright Act to be Completely Rewritten..
The National Business Review reports that that the National Government intends to completely rewrite NZ's Copyright Act: "The National government will freeze any further changes to the Copyright Act with an eye to throwing the whole thing out and rewriting it from scratch." This re-writing will be an excellent chance to introduce things like a NZ equivalent of Fair Use, allowances for derivative works like parody and satire, and perhaps another thing or two that will help maintain a fair balance between artist and public rights. More about Copyright in NZ here and contribute your thoughts around NZ Copyright Reform here. Update, Monday 4 May 2009: The source of this NBR story is unknown, only NBR reports it, and CW magazine say the government reject that story. Update, Tuesday 5 May 2009: Mr Powers office rejects NBRs story