Copyright bill is fair

Ahead of Wednesday's second reading of the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 in the Legislative Council (LegCo), opponents of the bill - mainly netizens - are gearing up for a legislation battle. Their sympathizers in the legislature have promised to obstruct the bill's passage by resorting to filibustering tactics. 

But the attempt to thwart the bill, which is intended to extend the protection of copyright owners to the Internet, will prove to be futile. While the filibusters, who account for only a minority of the lawmakers in the LegCo, are likely to cause some chaos and delays in the legislature and, therefore, wasting taxpayers' money, they have no chance to defeat the bill. The reason is simple and obvious - the draft bill in its current form is generally supported by the community. 

By incorporating various views and feedbacks collected during extensive public consultations since 2006, as well as making appropriate revisions, the current version of the copyright amendment bill tabled by the government has struck a fair balance between the legitimate interests of copyright owners, users and the general public. 

Specifically, the bill - formulated on a "fair dealing" doctrine - provides copyright exemptions for unlicensed use of copyrighted works for purposes such as parody, satire, pastiche, caricature, criticism, commenting, review, quotation, education, research and news reporting. The provisions for such a wide range of exemptions are sufficient guarantee for ensuring Hong Kong people's freedom of expression, as well as academic freedom while reasonably protecting the interests of copyright owners. 

The adoption of the "fair dealing" doctrine in formulating the copyright amendment bill is in line with the practice of many common law jurisdictions like Australia, Canada, India, Singapore and the UK. 

The open-ended exemption demanded by opponents of the bill for "user-generated content" may cause more controversies rather than effectively tackle the problem of digital copyright infringement. So far, there has yet to be a clear-cut definition for "user-generated content" in the world. 

Taking concrete steps to provide sufficient and effective protection for copyrights in the digital environment is to show our commitment to respecting intellectual property. It will no doubt encourage more innovative and creative activities in the city, creating more intelligent properties which are instrumental to Hong Kong's drive for a knowledge-based economy. No responsible legislator has any valid reason to block the passage of the copyright amendment bill.