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ARTICLE · 31 MARCH 2012

Expanding Australia's copyright safe harbour scheme: the industry response

Clayton Utz
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Internet intermediaries support reforming the copyright infringement safe harbour scheme, while IP owners want more reform.

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Timothy Webb
Timothy Webb
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Key Points:

Internet intermediaries support reforming the copyright infringement safe harbour scheme, while rights-holders want the ALRC to consider the issue.

Since 2005, carriage service providers (CSPs) have been able to limit the remedies available against them for copyright infringement relating to certain online activities by adhering to specified conditions in the so-called "safe harbour scheme". This was implemented via amendments to the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) in response to the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA).

For some time there has been debate about whether the provisions of the safe harbour scheme cover a sufficient range of online service providers. On 14 October 2011 the Commonwealth Attorney-General launched a public consultation paper proposing to broaden the safe harbour scheme, focusing on the definition of "carriage service provider".

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