HK Authorities To Limit Exemptions To Copyright Laws

by Mary Swire, for LawAndTax-News.com, Hong Kong

21 March 2006

Speaking with regard to recently proposed copyright law amendments, Hong Kong Commerce, Industry & Technology Bureau deputy secretary, Mary Chow explained that an effort has been made to balance the interests of both copyright work owners and users.

Speaking on a radio talk show at the weekend, Ms Chow announced that there was a proposal to limit the number of copies of newspapers, magazines and periodicals exempted from the copyright laws to 1,000 within 14 consecutive days. For books and academic periodicals, the proposed limit is a total value of $8,000 within 180 days.

She stated that the limits would be calculated on a cumulative basis, adding that permits should be obtained from the publisher if more copies are needed.

To address concerns about a possible adverse impact on classroom teaching and business operations, she explained that educational establishments that are non-profit-making or get Government subventions will exempted from criminal liabilities, although she added that they must shoulder civil liabilities if copyright holders decide to sue for damages.

On the practice of circulating scanned newspaper cuttings through an intranet, Ms Chow said that the matter has been addressed in the proposed legislative amendments, but the calculation of browsers needs to be sorted out.

If no record is kept on the number of intranet browsers, there is a suggestion to set the number at 10% of an organisation's total number of employees, she added.

With regard to the liberalisation of parallel imports, the Bureau deputy secretary said that the criminal liability period has been shortened from the existing 18 months to nine months, and the removal of the civil and criminal liability associated with the business use of parallel imports has also been proposed.

The Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2006 has been gazetted, and will be tabled at the Legislative Council on March 29.

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