Improved Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand Website

The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand website has now improved its navigation, search and online transactions.

For more information about the changes click here

NZ Copyright (Artists’ Resale Right) Amendment Bill 2008

The Copyright (Artists’ Resale Right) Amendment Bill 2008 amends the Copyright Act 1994 to establish a mandatory resale right for certain artists when their artistic works are resold in New Zealand. A resale right entitles an artist to receive a resale royalty payment each time an original artistic work is resold on the secondary art market. It does not apply to the first sale of the work. The Bill creates a property right for an artist and his or her successors over the artist's artistic creations for a period expiring (broadly) 50 years after the death of the artist. During that time the holder of the resale right would be entitled to a royalty payment to be obtained by a collecting agency.

New Zealand Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act 2008

The Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act 2008, which received the Royal Assent on 11 April 2008, has amended infringement provision relating to the importation of films.

A person will now infringe copyright in a film if that person:

“(a) imports a copy of the film into New Zealand within 9 months of first being made available to the public; and
(b) knows or has reason to believe that the film is imported into New Zealand within 9 months of first being made available to the public; and
(c) is not the licensee of the copyright in New Zealand; and
(d) imports the film into New Zealand other than for that person's private and domestic use."

Anti-counterfeiting trade agreement negotiations

Both the Australian and New Zealand governments have announced that they will join with a number of other countries (including the USA, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, Korea, Mexico and the EC) to develop an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) as part of an international effort to curb the trade in counterfeit goods and pirated works.

It is intended that ACTA will set a common standard for intellectual property rights enforcement in matters such as criminal enforcement, border protection measures and civil enforcement; and establish enforcement best practices and mechanisms for international cooperation.