Catchpole Brent: Copyright (Parallel Importation of Films and Onus of Proof) Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee Third Reading 
Catchpole Brent: Copyright (Parallel Importation of Films and Onus of Proof) Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:612;Page:9403] 
BRENT CATCHPOLE (NZ First) 
: 
 I would like to pick up on a point that I made in an earlier speech with regard to parallel importation and the 9-month ban. As Mr Ryall pointed out the ban is only on parallel importation and is not on genuine authorised licensee-distributed goods. So Disney can distribute them. Closer to home the distribution of the third  
The Lord of the Rings 
 film on DVD and video can commence on the day it is premiered in Wellington. Distribution can occur from the first day a work is published or opened for viewing by the public anywhere in the world—the bill clearly refers in section 35(3A) in clause 4 to a work first being made available “in New Zealand or elsewhere”. Generally it refers to international release but in the case of the  
The Lord of the Rings 
 film the premiere will be here in New Zealand and genuine authorised licensees can commence distribution of videos and DVDs on the day the film is released. 
There is no protection for small cinemas in that case. Small cinemas will no doubt have a huge influx of customers when the film comes out but the bill will not protect them by delaying the release of DVDs until a date 9 months afterwards in the way that the Minister is suggesting because those restrictions are on distribution through parallel importation. 
The other thing I would like to point out is something that the learning institutes raised with the select committee. They are concerned that the bill now forbids them from parallel importing e-books that have clips of movies within them. If the 9-month period has not been passed those e-books cannot be imported and shown within learning institutes. The learning institutes expressed that problem to us. Beyond that there is the problem of the licensing of the software required to run those movies and e-books. If learning institutions have to rely on distribution by the local distributor then that creates a long delay before they can use the learning material in the manner they wish. They will have to reprogramme their timetables and either wait the 9 months or pay a huge cost to buy the licence themselves. That was a major concern for the learning institutes. 
In summary the 9-month delay in parallel importing is not going to help small cinemas because it is up to local distributors to decide when they want to distribute DVDs. It will stop only parallel importation. If a DVD is released on the day a work is released internationally then the small cinemas are not going to be protected or assisted in any way. Learning institutes will have to wait for a much longer period before they can start showing imported e-books; the inclusion of film clips in them means that learning institutes will not be able to show e-books unless they buy the licence separately or buy directly from local distributors. That may not suit local distributors because they may not want to bring in the e-books as well; so it is not necessarily going to help anybody and will only delay the whole process. This bill will not help local cinemas as was claimed but it does bring a lot of the high technology into line.