On the 1st of September some changes to the Copyright Act take effect. The changes establish a process to deal with unauthorised sharing of copyright material via the internet.
The new law is designed to discourage the illegal download, and upload of content, such as music, film or books, via online file sharing. Copyright owners will do this by recording alleged infringements based on an IP address, which is a unique identifier for any broadband connection.
With this new law, IPAPs (Internet Protocol Address Providers) like Telecom will be required to pass on copyright infringement notices from rights owners to our customers.
As the account holder of an internet account you are liable for what happens on your internet connection. In the case of a recorded infringement, account holders will receive up to two warning notices. At the third notice an Enforcement Notice, the rights owner may take action against the account holder at the Copyright Tribunal.
Please read the Q&A for more detailed information or visit med.govt.nz. The Q&As are intended to provide general information, not legal advice. and you cannot rely on this information as a substitute for legal advice
What does this mean for you?
Ordinarily, this law should make no changes to how you use your broadband. However, if you upload or download files (e.g. music or video) to and from the internet using a filesharing application you'll need to make sure that you, or anybody else using your internet service, are not infringing on the copyright of others. Should this happen, you may receive infringement notices. On the third notification (an enforcement notice) the Copyright owner can bring its case with you to the Copyright Tribunal.
How does this work?
Copyright owners will be monitoring alleged infringements of their works online based on IP addresses. When they wish to pursue an alleged infringement they will notify us, your ISP. We then match the IP address to the relevant account holder and pass the notice on to you.
Challenge a notice
If you don't agree with the alleged infringement you have 14 days to challenge a notification by downloading this form or using the paper copy you received with your notice (notices will be sent to you in the same way you receive your bill). We will then pass this on to the Copyright owner. We will also inform you of their response when they accept or reject your challenge.
More information for Rights Holders
In accordance with Regulation 5 of the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Regulations IPAPs can specify a process by which rights owners can provide rights owner notices to the IPAP. Please contact Telecom for information on Telecom's process at: copyrightcommercial@telecom.co.nz.
More information
You can find more information about this Act, what it means to you and what to do when you receive a notice at telecom.co.nz/help or visit med.govt.nz.