Reviewing the Code of Conduct for Copyright Collecting Societies

In August 2017, the Government announced its response to the Productivity Commission’s Inquiry Report into Intellectual Property Arrangements and stated that a review would be undertaken on the Code of Conduct for Copyright Collecting Societies (the Code).

We released a discussion paper to commence the review on 25 August 2017 examining the role of the Code in promoting fair and efficient outcomes for both members and licensees of copyright collecting societies in Australia. This facilitated discussion to inform our review which is being undertaken in consultation with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to assess whether the Code is:

1. meeting its rationale and objectives, including promoting confidence and participation in the system, and mitigating any potential market power issues where these occur in relation to collecting societies
2. promoting transparency, accountability and good governance, including by examining whether the Code contains sufficient monitoring, review and dispute resolution mechanisms
3. representing best practice in comparison with other domestic and international codes and guidelines
4. assessing other matters deemed significant to the scope of the review through discussions with stakeholders.

We’ve now released a draft report outlining options for improving the Code for stakeholder feedback.

We intend to deliver a final report to government this year.