Last year, New Zealand amended its Copyright Act to prohibit illegal downloading and file sharing, by introducing a ‘three strikes’ system. Since then, research has shown that downloading of unauthorized content has decreased by 50%. Now the first cases under this ‘three strikes law’ are brought before the New Zealand Copyright Tribunal. 

Rights holders associations such as the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) can request Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to send out infringement notices to subscribers who have allegedly downloaded copyright infringing materials. If infringements continue, even after sending a third notice, copyright holders can request a payment order, by filing an application with the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice can direct the case to the newly instated Copyright Tribunal. 

RIANZ alone has requested over 2,700 notices of alleged copyright infringement to be send by ISPs to their subscribers. The fees ISPs can charge copyright owners for sending out these notices will stay on $25,00 per notice, although some IPAPs (Internet Protocol Access Providers) requested this fee to be increased. Although RIANZ decided not to act against the first wave of infringers receiving the third notice, now three cases will be brought before the Ministry of Justice, who will most likely direct them to the Copyright Tribunal. 

One of the questions the Copyright Tribunal will probably face, is to what degree someone can be held responsible for copyright infringements on their network, since penalty rewards can count up to $15,000.00. Under current New Zealand legislation, an internet account holder is liable for any file sharing on their network, although it might be a different individual downloading infringing content. Therefore, the Copyright Tribunal does have the option of discretion in cases where the account holder is not likely to be the person that downloaded infringing material. Whether it uses this discretion, and to what degree, will follow in the upcoming cases; these will be a good indication of what sort of penalties infringers can face in New Zealand. 

Future of Copyright has written about the ‘three strikes’ system before. The French Hadopi law has been much criticized, although positive effects such as a decrease in illegal downloads have been measured there as well. In the U.S.A., the French ‘three strikes’ system has been amended into a ‘six strikes’ system, in which education and awareness are the main goals. If you would like to read more about these measures, please click on the articles below. 

• US will introduce Copyright Alert System before end of this year
• French Three Strikes Act seems to be successful
• French Three Strikes Act results in 14 court cases in two years
• New French Minister of Culture highly critical of HADOPI and France’s anti-piracy policy

Sources: Bell Gully, Bell Gully 

Written by: Nathalie Falot