The New Zealand government has amended Section 69 of the Copyright Act in order to implement a World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) agreement, known as the Marrakesh Treaty. The aim of the Treaty is to increase access to published materials for people who have a print disability.
It is important that New Zealand authors and publishers are aware of these changes and the rights and obligations that you have as copyright owners. You may be contacted by organisations that intend to make copies of your books that will then be provided to people with a print disability in New Zealand and in other countries that have signed up to the Marrakesh Treaty.
In anticipation of the amendment’s implementation later this year, PANZ, CLNZ & NZSA have prepared an outline to these changes and what they mean for New Zealand publishers and authors. This includes guidance on the steps to follow when dealing with an accessible format enquiry, including an email template to use for your correspondence. You can download this outline and email template here.
Importantly, we are strongly encouraging all members to copy your correspondence on accessible format copies to an email address setup by CLNZ: afc@copyright.co.nz Doing this will allow CLNZ, on behalf of PANZ and NZSA, to collate the notifications you receive and this will be immensely valuable to our ongoing advocacy with government. Information provided to CLNZ will be treated in confidence and will be anonymised and/or aggregated prior to being shared with any external agency.
Please contact Tom Rennie (tom.rennie@bwb.co.nz) with any queries regarding the Marrakesh Treaty or PANZ’s ongoing work with the Copyright Review.
