Senate Committee Report on Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2015
Friday 12 June 2015 @ 12.15 p.m. | IP & Media
The Senate Committee has released its report on the Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2015 (the bill). The Committee has published a mostly bipartisan report and ultimately recommends that the law be passed. This bill would provide copyright holders in film, TV and music the power to apply to the Federal Court to get entire websites blocked to Australian users.
The Bill
As we previously reported, the bill was introduced in early March this year. The bill is designed to introduce a prescriptive scheme to reduce online copyright infringement by inserting a new section 115A into the Copyright Act 1968 (CTH) that would allow for the Federal Court to grant an injunction requiring service providers to block infringing websites.
The bill was confronted with some criticism upon its original introduction. Concerns regarding the lack of a cap for the number of websites that can be blocked in a single injunction and the lack of a prescribed method for how such sites should be blocked were immediately raised. Instead, rights holders must take “reasonable steps to disable access”.
Committee Recommendation
The committee’s first recommendation was to allow for more judicial discretion in consideration of a website’s infringement. The bill currently provides that a judge “is to” take into a number of considerations provided in proposed s 115A(5) in deciding a website’s infringement. The committee recommends a more discretionary approach allowing that judges “may” consider such factors.
Their second recommendation deals with the concerns opined after the bill’s introduction. The committee recommended that the explanatory memorandum be amended to specify that 'reasonable steps to disable access to an online location' may include a requirement to post a landing page at the blocked online location, specifying that the relevant online location has been blocked by a court order and outlining details of that order.
Thirdly, the committee recommends that a review of the Act should take place two years after its enactment to decide its effectiveness. Fourthly, the committee recommends that the explanatory memorandum be amended to provide greater clarity and guidance on the issue of service provider costs and liability subsequent to the service provider’s compliance with court orders made under proposed section 115A of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).
Ultimately, the committee recommends that the bill should pass.
Passage of the Bill
Both the Labor and Coalition have agreed to the bill making it extremely likely that the bill will pass in the near future. The Australian Greens, however, dissented, and they recommended that the bill not be passed, saying that there wasn't enough evidence it would actually work.
Currently, there is no list of sites likely to be blocked should the bill pass. However, the bill is being urgently pushed through Parliament and despite recommending that the bill be passed, the committee has not done any comparison between the expected benefits to right holders and the potential costs to other parties.
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