The Legislative Council today (7th) passed the third reading of the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2022, known as "Internet Article 23".
In conjunction with the new broadcasting rights, the regulations stipulate criminal legal liability for related tortious acts, and online activities such as parody, satire, creating humor, and commenting on current events are exempted.
The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Yau Ying-wah, said that after several rounds of public consultation, the amendments have balanced the interests of all parties and will not narrow the freedom of creation and speech. Under the new revision, users of copyright works can enjoy more statutory exemptions.
Ma Fung-kwok believes that the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2022 has balanced the interests of different stakeholders.
(Photo by Xia Jialang)
Ma Fengguo, chairman of the bill committee, said that as a former senior film worker, he understood that copyright protection is a matter of life and death for industries related to creation. The government first proposed the amendment in 2011. The proposal was supported by the industry, but opposed by extremists and inside and outside the parliament. Forces, with the stigma attached to Article 23 of the Internet, proposed a second revision until 2014, and a consensus was reached at the stage of the Bills Committee, but opposition members took filibuster actions in order to obstruct the structural reorganization resolution. In the end, the two amendments failed It made him feel extremely regretful.
He said that this revision is based on the 2014 draft, which is crucial to the development of the industry and effectively protects the creation and ideas of cultural and art workers.
He mentioned that some people think that the amendment will stifle the freedom of creation and speech, but the ordinance has balanced the interests of different stakeholders. Instead of stifling freedom of creation, it has strengthened Hong Kong's international status and reputation.
Di Zhiyuan Worry about Chilling Effect: Undefined Comments on Current Politics and Parody
New thinking Di Zhiyuan said that some people may think that the previous opposition voices were too political or demonized the amendment, and they disagree with the relevant behavior, but this does not mean that the opposition voices are meaningless.
He pointed out that different groups and citizens are worried that the amendment will affect the freedom of creation and speech, and the authorities have not defined the scope of exemptions such as commenting on current affairs and parody, nor have they provided guidelines and examples to illustrate, making citizens worried that they will fall into the law by mistake and cause chills effect, I hope the government will explain how to protect freedom of speech while protecting copyright.
Fok Qi-gang from the sports, performing arts, culture and publishing sectors urged the government to launch a new round of copyright review immediately after the implementation of the regulations, including adding provisions to combat illegal streaming devices and studying a voluntary copyright registration system.
Qiu Yinghua said that the regulations endow copyright owners with technology-neutral exclusive communication rights, ensure that works can be protected when they are communicated to the public by any electronic transmission mode, and stipulate criminal legal liabilities for related infringements in conjunction with exclusive communication rights.
He said the ordinance provided copyright exemptions for parody, satire, parody and parody, commentary on current events and citation of copyright works.
He continued to point out that the ordinance has added a safe harbor provision, allowing online service providers to adopt reasonable restrictions after meeting certain conditions, including being notified of infringements on their service platforms, and only need to bear limited legal liability for their users' infringements on the platform. Responsibility, encourage connection service providers and copyright owners to cooperate in combating online piracy.
He mentioned that after the implementation of the Ordinance, the government will start a new round of review of the Copyright Ordinance.
Amendments to the Copyright Act Di Zhiyuan worried about the ambiguity of the provisions of the Legislative Council Yau Teng-wah called for a demonstration of the efficiency of the new parliament The revision of the Copyright Act｜Exemption does not draw a line and submits it to the court for decision Exempt parody satire
