The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today issued, for public comment, a draft guide to copyright licensing and collecting societies.
This follows the introduction to Parliament of the Copyright Amendment Bill 2006. The Bill proposes two amendments that are relevant to the ACCC and its functions:
- the Copyright Tribunal may have regard to guidelines (if any) made by the ACCC, and
- the Copyright Tribunal will be able to make the ACCC a party to a matter before the Tribunal (if the ACCC applies and the Tribunal is satisfied that it would be appropriate to do so).
Once these proposed amendments come into effect, the ACCC intends to issue a general information guide to users of copyright material to help explain their rights and obligations under the Copyright Act 1968.
The draft guide has been issued for comment from interested parties. The ACCC seeks comment on all aspects of the guide. It is particularly interested in how the guide's usefulness to copyright users can be improved.
After considering the views of interested parties, and commencement of amendments made by the Copyright Amendment Bill, the ACCC will finalise its views and release a final guide. A less detailed, summary version, of the guide is also expected to be produced.
The draft guide will be available from the ACCC's website.
Submissions are due by 5.00pm, 31 January 2007.