If you operate a website, ISP or other online service in New Zealand, a recent law change provides you with a limited, but useful, protection against some types of copyright liability.
The new section 92B (no, not 92A) of the Copyright Act 1994 came into force last year. While the attention was on its “guilt by accusation” neighbour, section 92B has quietly provided all website operators, ISPs, and businesses who have a LAN with what is known in the US as a “safe harbour” provision.
New Zealand’s copyright laws contain an important feature known as the “commissioning rule”. Software developers – whose stock in trade is intellectual property – need to beware of this rule.
Note: the Government is proposing to repeal this rule. As of April 2009, the amending Bill (carried over from the previous Labour-led Government) sits at number 18 on the Government’s Order Paper (right after the Dog Control Amendment Bill), so the rule may not be repealed for some time.
A recent court case in the US upheld an open source software licence in a way that is important for two reasons.