The Commissioning Rule and the Copyright Act 1994

In 2006 the government considered two specific issues of copyright law, namely the provision of the Copyright Act 1994 that deals with commissioned works ("the commissioning rule") and the interface between copyright and contract law. As part of this, the Ministry released a discussion paper on 31 March 2006, and submissions were received up to 31 May 2006. Submissions did not indicate a need to take further action on the relationship between contract and copyright law, however a number of issues were raised in relation to the commissioning rule. Those issues were further explored by the Ministry by way of a consultation paper ("The Commissioning Rule and the Copyright Act 1994") which was released in July 2007 to targeted stakeholders including representative industry organisations, legal professionals and other organisations or interested individuals. 17 submissions were received. Final policy advice on these issues was provided to Cabinet in December 2007. The Copyright (Commissioning Rule) Amendment Bill which repeals the commissioning rule, section 21(3) of the Copyright Act 1994, has now been introduced into the House of Representatives.

For further information, contact copyrightact@med.govt.nz.

The Commissioning Rule and the Copyright Act 1994 [ Published 29 September 2008 ]
This consultation paper addresses key concerns raised by submissions to the first discussion paper and reviews the issue of copyright ownership in commissioned works.
Submissions
The Ministry received 17 submissions on the consultation paper: The Commissioning Rule and the Copyright Act 1994.
Cabinet Paper - The Commissioning Rule and Educational Resource Centres [ Published 29 September 2008 ]
This paper addresses the key issues raised throughout the consultation process and seeks agreement to repeal the commissioning rule. The recommendations in this paper have subsequently been agreed to by Cabinet.