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RIAA Applauds US Copyright Expansion
February 12, 2004
Thomas Mennecke
In early February, free trade between the United States and Australia was finalized. The accord opens up tariff free trade on a majority of goods between the two countries.
While many look forward to the economic advantages of such a deal, the new free trade zone also imposes many American copyright standards on Australia. Seemingly, Australia lacked many stiff copyright laws, such as the DMCA. The following, from the Office of the United States Trade Representative website (USTR), highlights many of the copyright details of the trade pact:
· Criminalizes end-user piracy, providing strong deterrence against piracy and counterfeiting.
· Requires both Parties to authorize the seizure, forfeiture, and destruction of counterfeit and pirated goods and the equipment used to produce them. Also provides for enforcement against goods-in-transit, to deter violators from using ports or free trade zones to traffic in pirated products. Ex officio action may be taken in border and criminal
cases, thus providing more effective enforcement.
· Establishes that only authors, composers and other copyright owners have the right to make their work available on-line.
· Copyright owners maintain rights over temporary copies of their works on computers, which is important in protecting music, videos, software and text from widespread unauthorized sharing via the Internet.
· Establishes strong anti-circumvention provisions to prohibit tampering with technologies (like embedded codes on discs) that are designed to prevent piracy and unauthorized distribution over the Internet.
In addition, the USTR press release also dictates the expansion of copyright laws in Australia.
"A Trade Agreement for the Digital Age: U.S. and Australian authors, performers, inventors, and other producers of creative material will benefit from the higher and extended standards the FTA requires for protecting intellectual property rights such as copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets and enhanced means for enforcing those rights. The agreement calls for each government to adopt state-of-the-art protection for digital products such as software, music, text, and videos, and encourages adoption of measures to promote trade through electronic commerce."
The RIAA welcomed the measures added to the free trade agreement, as Chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol sees this as a good opportunity for copyright holders and artists. On the RIAA website, Bainwol stated, “The comprehensive and modern copyright protections, and improved enforcement measures, in this agreement will be good for the creative industries, for jobs, and ultimately for consumers, in both countries.”
So far, the Australians seem to be living up to their obligations. Before the ink was even dry on the act, the MIPI (Music Industry Piracy Investigation) raided the offices of Sharman Networks, in preparation of their civil action against the company. The Australian music industry has accused Sharman of promoting copyrighted material on the FastTrack network. Prior to this year, any kind of copyright infringement was noticeably less visible in Australia.
http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=391
===
RIAA Applauds US Copyright Expansion
February 12, 2004
Thomas Mennecke
In early February, free trade between the United States and Australia was finalized. The accord opens up tariff free trade on a majority of goods between the two countries.
While many look forward to the economic advantages of such a deal, the new free trade zone also imposes many American copyright standards on Australia. Seemingly, Australia lacked many stiff copyright laws, such as the DMCA. The following, from the Office of the United States Trade Representative website (USTR), highlights many of the copyright details of the trade pact:
· Criminalizes end-user piracy, providing strong deterrence against piracy and counterfeiting.
· Requires both Parties to authorize the seizure, forfeiture, and destruction of counterfeit and pirated goods and the equipment used to produce them. Also provides for enforcement against goods-in-transit, to deter violators from using ports or free trade zones to traffic in pirated products. Ex officio action may be taken in border and criminal
cases, thus providing more effective enforcement.
· Establishes that only authors, composers and other copyright owners have the right to make their work available on-line.
· Copyright owners maintain rights over temporary copies of their works on computers, which is important in protecting music, videos, software and text from widespread unauthorized sharing via the Internet.
· Establishes strong anti-circumvention provisions to prohibit tampering with technologies (like embedded codes on discs) that are designed to prevent piracy and unauthorized distribution over the Internet.
In addition, the USTR press release also dictates the expansion of copyright laws in Australia.
"A Trade Agreement for the Digital Age: U.S. and Australian authors, performers, inventors, and other producers of creative material will benefit from the higher and extended standards the FTA requires for protecting intellectual property rights such as copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets and enhanced means for enforcing those rights. The agreement calls for each government to adopt state-of-the-art protection for digital products such as software, music, text, and videos, and encourages adoption of measures to promote trade through electronic commerce."
The RIAA welcomed the measures added to the free trade agreement, as Chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol sees this as a good opportunity for copyright holders and artists. On the RIAA website, Bainwol stated, “The comprehensive and modern copyright protections, and improved enforcement measures, in this agreement will be good for the creative industries, for jobs, and ultimately for consumers, in both countries.”
So far, the Australians seem to be living up to their obligations. Before the ink was even dry on the act, the MIPI (Music Industry Piracy Investigation) raided the offices of Sharman Networks, in preparation of their civil action against the company. The Australian music industry has accused Sharman of promoting copyrighted material on the FastTrack network. Prior to this year, any kind of copyright infringement was noticeably less visible in Australia.
http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=391
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