The House Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has tabled their “Review of technological protection measures exceptions”.
It examines the implications of the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement on Australian copyright law
Many exceptions were put forward during the inquiry and the Committee has concluded that several are warranted, including exceptions relevant to important sectors of Australian society and the economy such as education, libraries and cultural organisations, the information technology industry, broadcasting, and government,” Mr Slipper said.
Further, the report recommends that region coding TPMs on copyright material (used on DVDs for example) should not come within the liability scheme.
“The Committee was not persuaded that region coding is essential for piracy prevention or that it is a genuine copyright protection,” Mr Slipper said.
“Nor is the Committee interested in further inhibiting the ability of people to enjoy lawfully acquired copyright material.”
“The Committee has therefore concluded that the unauthorised circumvention of region coding TPMs should not attract liability under the new scheme.”
