Live | The Bureau of Commerce and Economic Affairs re-introduces the consultation draft of the Copyright Amendment Regulation

During the announcement of the Policy Paper in the middle of last month, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Yau Tenghua, has proposed to re-launch the Copyright Amendment Ordinance. The Secretary will hold a press conference for a public consultation on the update of Hong Kong's copyright system at 3 o'clock this afternoon.

The Director of the Intellectual Property Department Huang Fulai and the Acting Assistant Director (Copyright) of the Intellectual Property Department Xu Lishan will also attend the press conference.

Yau Tenghua said that he would use the discussions in the Legislative Council in 2014 as the starting point for consultation, hoping to draw on the opinions of the industry and all walks of life, and then submit it to the Legislative Council.

Qiu mentioned earlier that Hong Kong’s "Copyright Ordinance" is more than ten years behind, and the authorities must do a "guarantee" work. The content will be based on the 2014 draft version. It is not ruled out that details will be added in accordance with the Hong Kong National Security Law, but reference should be made. The current actual development, consult with people from all walks of life.

The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Yau Tenghua, said today that although the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 was supported by the Bills Committee of the Legislative Council, the deliberation process was forced to suspend due to some legislators.

Hong Kong’s copyright system lags behind the international development by more than ten years. I think it’s a pity that the version at that time is the results and broad consensus reached by the government, the Legislative Council, copyright owners, online service providers, and copyright users after years of discussion. Balance the rights and interests of different stakeholders.

The relevant legislative proposals cover five areas, namely:

1. Grant the copyright owner the exclusive right of technology-neutral communication;

2. Cooperate with the introduction of the above-mentioned exclusive communication rights to determine the criminal liability for related infringements;

3. Add two statutory factors for the court to consider when deciding whether to award additional damages to the owner in a civil case involving infringement;

4. The provision of "safe harbor" is added to stipulate that online service providers shall, if certain conditions are met, including after being notified of infringing activities on their service platforms, take reasonable measures to restrict or curb the relevant activities, and only need to provide users with The infringement committed on the service platform bears limited legal liability;

5. New additions include the use of copyrighted works for the purposes of parody, satire, comic and parody; commenting on current events, and quoting copyrighted works for the purpose of three categories.

He also pointed out that in the past, the government's promotion of amendments was called the "Twenty-three Internet Articles." Regarding voices worried that the amendments would hinder the second creation, Qiu Tenghua pointed out that this draft will add three additional exemptions, including reasonable parody, Satire and imitation; commenting on current affairs and citing the three major categories of copyrighted works for the purpose of using copyrighted works, exempted in reasonable circumstances; emphasizing that the law must protect the rights of copyright holders and respect the freedom of expression and creation.

The draft "Copyright Amendment Bill" was introduced in 2011 and 2014. The content included restrictions on the rebroadcast of infringing works. Even if the second creation or cover works were not exempted, it caused concern that it would affect the freedom of speech and was shelved after opposition.

The regulations need to be updated. As technology changes and the international infringement industry is hot, it is believed that the existing regulations are not sufficient to protect copyright.

After the introduction of the 2014 Copyright Amendment Regulations, it aroused social opposition. Finally, after three months of Rab, a member of the Pan-Democratic Legislative Council at the time, finally passed the adjournment pending resolution after the establishment of the establishment, and whether it will be dealt with in the coming Legislative Council.

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Qiu Tenghua said that the consultation on copyright amendments will be restarted. It does not rule out that the copyright amendment regulations will be inserted in details in response to the National Security Act. The consultation will be held next month as soon as possible. Failed to keep up with the tasks given by the state