Saturday, November 7, 2009

How to enforce a copyright in New Zealand

As is stated in my entry about how to register a copyright in New Zealand, copyrights cannot be registered in New Zealand, but they do exist and can be enforced.

While many countries use general court systems which also address other civil disputes to hear copyright infringement complaints, New Zealand uses what is specifically called the Copyright Tribunal to decide on copyright infringement complaints.

Based on the Ministry of Justice's website, the enforcement process seems fairly simple. It involves sending an application for a hearing in writing to The Secretary of the Copyright Tribunal and then attending the hearing. There is no application fee involved, and a hearing need not be held if both parties and the Copyright Tribunal agree to decide the hearing based on written submissions.

RELEVANT LINKS (Open in new window)

Copyright Tribunal - Ministry of Justice - New Zealand
New Zealand's Copyright Act 1994

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