ADA welcomes government decision on ACCC copyright code

Canberra, Australia – The Australian Digital Alliance (ADA) welcomes the government’s decision not to take up the ACCC’s recommendation for a mandatory copyright takedown code for digital platforms, which would have imposed additional legal burdens on Australia’s technology sector.

We agree with the government that the ACCC recommendation, from the final report of its Digital Platform Inquiry, would have had unintended effects for our complex copyright ecosystem, impacting on many groups beyond the digital platforms it purported to regulate.

“We support initiatives that foster collaboration between platforms and copyright owners, and that promote the development of fast and effective measures to remove infringing content online. But the ACCC recommendations would have been a step backwards,” said ADA Executive Officer Jessica Coates.

“All the previous reviews, including the Productivity Commission’s IP Inquiry, have recommended that we extend the established copyright safe harbour scheme to commercial platforms operating in Australia. This would provide the tools creators need to handle infringing material while also providing much needed certainty for Australia’s tech sector,” Ms Coates said, “The ACCC recommendation would have made the situation worse for Australian companies, further disadvantaging them against international competitors, while creating a complex web of different schemes for copyright owners and consumers to navigate.”

The ADA also welcomes the government’s commitment to keep the issue of platform liability for copyright infringement open, with further consultation in 2020.

“We look forward to taking part in the consultations, and working with copyright owners to both reduce infringing copyright material and promote access.”