Labor’s support for book industry welcomed
December 9, 2016
“Copyright Agency | Viscopy welcomes the Federal Opposition’s support for Australian publishers, writers and booksellers and their ability to invest in Australian writers by keeping in place territorial copyright which the Productivity Commission wants to abolish,” said Copyright Agency CEO Adam Suckling.
“However we remain gravely concerned about many other proposals in the Productivity Commission report such as introducing the American ‘Fair Use’ doctrine. PwC recently estimated importing ‘fair use’ into Australia could result in a loss of GDP of more than $1 billion, and lead to the substantial loss of Australian jobs.
“We call on both the Government and Opposition to rule out these recommendations.
“Australian artists, writers, musicians and film-makers have a right to receive fair payment for their work. Changes to Australian copyright laws being pushed by the Productivity Commission together with Big Tech companies will see the protections that ensure this taken away.
“The introduction of ‘Fair Use’ would threaten our nation’s ability to nurture and sustain the next generation of Australian cultural icons, such as the next Jimmy Barnes, Jessica Mauboy and Magda Szubanski.
“‘Fair Use’ has already enabled large enterprises in the US to use copyright material for free or minimum payment. If introduced into Australia, this would have a deeply detrimental impact on the ability of film and TV makers, writers, artists and journalists to tell Australian yarns, and make a living doing so.”
Copyright Agency | Viscopy is an organisation that collects and distributes copyright fees supporting our 43,000 members made up of writers, illustrators, artists, publishers, journalists and content creators across the literary, educational publishing, media and visual art sectors.
Further queries, please contact:
Nicholas Pickard
Director of Membership, Communications and Stakeholder Engagement
Copyright Agency | Viscopy
0439 227 656 npickard@copyright.com.au