Prosecutions likely in schools copyright crackdown

MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release
1 June 2005

Prosecutions likely in copyright crack down in schools.

Primary and secondary schools not photocopying within the limits of the Copyright Act be warned: New Zealand's copyright licensing agency will be pursuing miscreants. Private educational training institutes are also under scrutiny. The crack down follows an out-of-court settlement reached with Rotorua's Waiariki Polytechnic this month for infringing copyright.

Schools will be receiving their annual pro forma invoice for copyright licensing this week.

'We are aware of a number of schools that are likely to be infringing copyright when making multiple copies of extracts from published works. I encourage those schools that don't have a licence from Copyright Licensing Limited to look carefully at the amount of copying they are doing as we will take action where necessary,' says Copyright Licensing Limited Chairman, Mark Sayes.

Most educational institutions without a licence in New Zealand can legally only make multiple copies of up to three percent or three pages of a work for students; and schools may only reproduce this quantity if it makes up less than 50 percent of the work. Commercial private training institutes do not qualify for this allowance under The Act and need a licence for any copying from published works for students.

A licence, which costs just a few dollars per student, allows schools to make multiple copies of up to ten percent of a book and whole articles. Once an institution has a licence they have access to copying from a world wide repertoire of published work.

Copyright Licensing Limited has been providing workshops in schools throughout New Zealand for a number of years to raise awareness of copyright. The workshops explain how copyright law balances the need for public access to copyright works with the right of creators to earn a living from their works. The majority of educational institutions throughout New Zealand have a licence with Copyright Licensing Limited.

'We feel now we have done as much as we can to promote the importance of holding a copyright licence. We will now be taking a tougher approach to those schools that do not comply,' says Mark Sayes.

Marty Pilott, author of the popular Year 11 English Study Guide says "payment from Copyright Licensing Limited makes a big difference for authors like me. It makes the effort worthwhile and for some authors would make the difference in deciding to write or not."

Copyright Licensing Limited, a non-profit organisation returns over 80 percent of the value of licences taken out by institutions to the publishers and authors of the works as remuneration. Total educational licensing revenue available for distribution from 2004 fees was $3.5 million. New Zealand publishers and authors are likely to receive 50 percent of this funding.

Copyright Licensing Limited acts on behalf of publishers and authors from around the world in providing licensing services for the reproduction of extracts from books, periodicals and journals. Established in 1988, Copyright Licensing Limited is jointly owned by the Book Publishers Association of New Zealand and the New Zealand Society of Authors.

Schools that wish to know more or are unsure of whether they are working within the 1994 Copyright Act can visit www.copyright.co.nz or call 0800 480271.

ENDS

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