IP/N/1/AUS/C/10

Australia

Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Digital Television) Act 2010, No. 94, 2010

The Act amends the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 and the Copyright Act 1968 to facilitate the delivery of digital television services by satellite to viewers who cannot receive an adequate terrestrial signal for the digital television services licensed for the area in which they live. To support the requirement on regional and metropolitan broadcasters to supply their content to satellite broadcasting service licensees for broadcast in the relevant satellite licence area, a satellite broadcasting service licensee would be expected to reach a commercial agreement with metropolitan and regional broadcasters for the provision of programming and content, including local news and information, for broadcast on the satellite service. Where such an agreement cannot be reached, a statutory licensing scheme would be established in order to provide equitable remuneration to copyright holders. Such a scheme would also account for the underlying copyright in the broadcast (that is, the copyright in works, cinematograph films and sound ecordings transmitted by the satellite licensees). The Act amends the Copyright Act 1968 to establish such a statutory licensing scheme to determine equitable remuneration where commercial negotiations fail. The scheme would provide that the copying, broadcasting and re-broadcasting by a satellite broadcasting service licensee of a particular broadcast by a metropolitan or regional broadcaster does not infringe the copyright in the broadcast, or in any work, sound recording or cinematographic film included in the broadcast, if a remuneration notice given to the relevant collecting society is in force.