Copyright (Marrakesh Treaty Implementation) Amendment Bill

I move, That the Copyright (Marrakesh Treaty Implementation) Amendment Bill be now read a second time.

Madam Speaker, before I start thanking others, can I acknowledge you in your new role as Assistant Speaker. I’m sure you’ll use your wisdom and judgment as you did as senior Government whip in your new role in the Chair. I’m more used to you calling on my name not to speak, so it is nice to have the invitation from you to make a contribution tonight. Let’s see how we go.

I do want to thank the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee, or EDSI, for their work and consideration of this legislation.

💬 Jonathan Young: You’re welcome.

Very hard-working. I also want to thank all of those who took time to submit and provide insight and feedback at the select committee.

This bill amends the Copyright Act to allow New Zealand to accede to the Marrakesh Treaty. A little bit of background to that treaty: it is estimated that only 10 percent of all written material that is published worldwide is published in formats that are accessible to people with a print disability, and this lack of access is a barrier in public life and it also restricts employment and education and also recreational opportunities for people with print disabilities. To address this problem, the World Intellectual Property Organization, or WIPO, concluded the Marrakesh Treaty to provide an international legal framework for an exception to copyright infringement to facilitate the production and international exchange of copyright works in accessible formats. Fifty-five countries are now party to the Marrakesh Treaty, including Australia, Canada, Chile, Singapore, the United States, and the European Union.

The Copyright Act of 1994 already has an exception to copyright infringement that allows prescribed bodies as within this bill to make accessible-format copies without the need to seek the copyright owner’s permission. However, two things: first of all, only a small number of organisations, with limited resources, are providing copies of accessible formats to a small group of persons with a print disability, and, secondly, the current exception does not provide for the import of accessible formats of works, which results in costly and time-consuming duplication in converting works to accessible formats when accessible-format copies of these works may already exist and may already be available from other countries at a much lower cost. To address these issues, the bill proposes to replace section 69 of the Copyright Act with new section 69 and new section 69A through to section 69D.

All submitters expressed support for the aims of the Marrakesh Treaty. However, some submitters expressed differences of opinion on some aspects of this legislation. Groups representing copyright owners and authors generally argued that the conditions imposed on authorised entities by the bill might not be adequate to protect the interests of copyright owners and authors. They submitted that the bill should impose stricter conditions than those that are currently set out in the bill. Many of the concerns raised by those copyright owners and authors are also relevant to other exceptions in the Copyright Act, and I consider that these are better dealt with as part of the review of the Copyright Act currently being carried out by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Many of the other submitters argued that conditions imposed in the bill—in particular, the commercial availability test—were too onerous. They submitted that these conditions may deter authorised entities from making accessible-format copies or may make it difficult for authorised entities to provide timely access to accessible-format copies.

The bill was reported back from select committee with the unanimous recommendation that it be passed with amendments. Most of the amendments are minor and are intended to clarify some aspects of the bill. The most significant amendment is the removal of the commercial availability test. The select committee heard both arguments for and against the commercial availability test and decided that, on balance, a formal requirement for a commercial availability test would disadvantage print-disabled people disproportionately to the benefit gained by copyright holders.

I agree with the recommendations in the select committee report. These recommendations stayed true to the original intent of the bill and provide greater clarity, so can I thank the select committee for its work in that respect. I think it has been made a better bill as a result of the select committee process in allowing both of those sides to have that debate, and I think that the select committee has landed at the right place there. So I commend this bill to the House.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, and likewise allow me to congratulate you on your “ascension”, as it has been termed tonight. It sounds almost like ascending to heaven, your ascension to the role of Assistant Speaker. I am sure that you will conduct yourself in this role in the same even-mannered and, I would say, very respectful way you did as chair of the Government Administration Committee in my first term, in the last Parliament. So congratulations.

It’s a pleasure to stand in support of this bill, which will help to implement the obligations that we have signed up to as part of the Marrakesh Treaty, in order to make print works more accessible to those with print disabilities. As the Minister has said, I’d also like to congratulate the work of the members of the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee. I did sub on for this particular item of business. Clearly, it’s a committee that works very constructively on matters such as these.

The one item of contention, really, to be discussed was this issue of the commercial availability test. I think there are, out of about 55 countries that have implemented legislation or have signed up to the Marrakesh Treaty, perhaps only four others that had a commercial availability test, and members of the committee weighed up the pros and cons of retaining versus removing it. It was our view that removing it actually helps to create a good market tension for these sorts of works and accessibility versions—that the publishers or copyright holders have a natural incentive to want to provide print accessible copies, because there is a market for them, and those authorised entities that are seeking to obtain them to provide them to people who need them have a natural incentive to want to see if there are well-priced commercial versions available, because there is a significant—a not insignificant cost—in creating them.

So we looked at that on balance and found that removing the test not only will keep us in step with so many other countries signed up to this treaty but would actually create the right sort of tensions in what is a marketplace that would ensure protection for copyright holders and ease of availability, speed of availability, and lower cost for consumers. I commend this bill to the House.

Thank you for the opportunity to begin my contribution this evening; I don’t know that I’ll get through the whole entire amount, but I am pleased to stand and take a call on this piece of legislation. This piece of legislation, I believe, is about accessibility, and it is better accessibility for people in New Zealand who do face considerable challenges in their everyday life. As the Minister said earlier, less than 10 percent of all written materials published are in an accessible format. That is actually, potentially, affecting an estimated number of up to 168,000 New Zealanders. That is 168,000 New Zealanders where a lack of access is potentially creating a barrier for them to participate fully in work and education. We’re striving for a more inclusive society, one without barriers, where people can actually participate fully and have equitable opportunities by amending the Copyright Act to allow New Zealand to accede to the Marrakesh Treaty. It is one way of working towards that by facilitating the access to published works for people who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled.

This bill provides for an international framework for the production and dissemination of copies of books and other literary works in an accessible format, including Braille, large print, and audio books. It requires members to sign up to provide copyright exemptions that allow authorised entities to make accessible format copies without permission of the owner and allows for the ability to import and export accessible copies with other members, which is something that we currently don’t have. It does not allow for that import/export between countries. So, when countries sign up to this treaty—as the Minister said, 55 members actually have signed up, including Australia, Canada, Chile, Singapore, the US, the European Union. They’ve all signed up, and what we also found out during our time on select committee, hearing submissions, listening to evidence, was actually that the majority of these countries did not have the commercial availability test, which is something I will come to a little bit further on in my contribution.

So we had a number of submissions, both oral and written, submissions that came from members of the public—librarians, universities, and actually people who are visually impaired.

Debate interrupted.

The House adjourned at 10 p.m.