Public consultation for copyright enforcement review in Australia now underway
06 February 2023
Public consultation on a Copyright Enforcement Review Issues paper is now underway in Australia.
The Attorney-General’s Department under the federal government of Australia released the Issues paper in December 2022, in line with the government’s move to conduct a review of enforcement measures in the country’s copyright law.
The review aims to understand priorities and challenges in the copyright enforcement sphere. It also seeks to gather views and feedback about whether these enforcement measures are still relevant, effective and proportionate and whether there is a need to improve such measures.
The consultation period began in December 2022 and will end on March 7, 2023.
“This is the latest in a series of copyright reviews that the Australian Government has commissioned in recent years, which have varied in scope and outcome. Some have resulted in substantive legal reform, while others have not. There is the potential for the Copyright Enforcement Review to prompt changes to various parts of Australian copyright law – such as the safe harbour regime and authorization liability – but whether it will actually do so remains to be seen,” said Joel Barrett, a partner at Allens in Sydney.
“What is clear from the Issues Paper is that the Government is particularly interested in copyright enforcement in the online context and the role of digital platforms. These range from piracy websites which host only infringing material to online marketplaces, social media platforms and other user-generated content platforms which are designed to encourage and facilitate the posting of lawful content, but which their users may nevertheless abuse,” said Barrett.
“This focus on the internet is unsurprising, given the ever-increasing consumer uptake of digital content services and availability and use of copyright materials online,” he added.
The public is encouraged to participate in the consultation, including copyright owners, creative industry organizations, users of copyright material as well as online service providers and other intermediaries.
- Espie Angelica A. de Leon
