In November 2006 the ACCC released draft copyright guidelines to assist the Copyright Tribunal in the determination of copyright remuneration. Public submissions were due by 31 January 2007.
The ACCC was subsequently made a party to two Copyright Tribunal matters, and decided not to release another version of the guidelines until it had had the opportunity to review the original guidelines in light of the proceedings and the submissions received.
Timeline
Background
In December 2006, the Copyright Act 1968 (Copyright Act) was amended in two ways that are relevant to the ACCC and its functions:
- In proceedings about voluntary licenses and licence schemes, the Copyright Tribunal of Australia must, if requested by a party to the proceedings, consider relevant guidelines (if any) made by the ACCC, per section 157A of the Copyright Act.
- The Tribunal may make the ACCC a party to a matter before the tribunal, if the ACCC asks, to be made a party and the tribunal is satisfied that it would be appropriate to do so, per section 157B of the Copyright Act.