It has been very enlightening to read your various comments on my media statement.
kiwioddBall and harlows_monkey are correct in concluding that my original statement was not drawing a correlation between increased sales of NZ music and increased piracy and copying of music (including NZ music). I used the opportunity of the amazing NZ album sales figures for that week to also draw attention to figures given to me by RIANZ in the same week about loss of sales from piracy and copying - not to make a comparison between the two.
However it has brought up some interesting comments from your discussion streams, and as such I would be very interested in your thoughts and comments on the next issue we are looking at under the Copyright Act: the question of format-shifting of personally-owned recordings for personal use.
Currently it is illegal in New Zealand to make a copy of a privately owned sound recording for personal use. For example, making a copy of a CD you have bought legitimately for your car stereo, or copying a CD that you own onto mini-disc or MP3 format for personal use in that medium. This is in recognition of the copyright owner's right to distribute their product and make earnings from that product in a way they see fit.
We have examined the mechanisms used in other countries to address this issue, for example Canada's tax on blank CDs. I would be interested to hear your views on whether a format-shifting exception to allow one copy of a legitimately owned recording for personal use would be a sensible way forward for New Zealand, recognising that currently it is through sales of recordings that artists make an income (alongside live gigs, royalties etc).
I look forward to hearing your views and experiences either here or via email (jtizard@ministers.govt.nz). Judith Tizard.
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It has been very enlightening to read your various comments on my media statement. kiwioddBall and harlows_monkey are correct in concluding that my original statement was not drawing a correlation between increased sales of NZ music and increased piracy and copying of music (including NZ music). I used the opportunity of the amazing NZ album sales figures for that week to also draw attention to figures given to me by RIANZ in the same week about loss of sales from piracy and copying - not to make a comparison between the two. However it has brought up some interesting comments from your discussion streams, and as such I would be very interested in your thoughts and comments on the next issue we are looking at under the Copyright Act: the question of format-shifting of personally-owned recordings for personal use. Currently it is illegal in New Zealand to make a copy of a privately owned sound recording for personal use. For example, making a copy of a CD you have bought legitimately for your car stereo, or copying a CD that you own onto mini-disc or MP3 format for personal use in that medium. This is in recognition of the copyright owner's right to distribute their product and make earnings from that product in a way they see fit. We have examined the mechanisms used in other countries to address this issue, for example Canada's tax on blank CDs. I would be interested to hear your views on whether a format-shifting exception to allow one copy of a legitimately owned recording for personal use would be a sensible way forward for New Zealand, recognising that currently it is through sales of recordings that artists make an income (alongside live gigs, royalties etc). I look forward to hearing your views and experiences either here or via email (jtizard@ministers.govt.nz). Judith Tizard.