The Globalisation of Intellectual Property

If you read anything online asking why Netflix isn’t in Australia, you will see the same answer repeated: they don’t have the appropriate ‘streaming rights.’

This begs the questions: what are ‘streaming rights’? who are they governed by? and, what happens if they are breached?

Streaming rights appear to be integral to how the online mediascape in Australia will change in the next few years, so this is definitely something which ought to be addressed in our feature.

To further my understanding of this area of law, I set up a meeting with Jeremy Kriewaldt, a partner of the law firm Atanaskovic Hartnell. His explanation was as follows:

JEREMY: Copyright and [intellectual property] law is really all about the same thing, that is protecting the form of a work...Licenses are sold by the producers of a film or TV show to distribute it. The film itself is the intellectual property of the actors, composers, editors, director, but they all signed away their rights to the producers. Licenses cover things from cinema viewings to videotape, or sorry – DVD formatting and release... so that's what these mythical 'streaming rights' are. Nothing special, just ordinary licensing agreements...

Problem with online distribution is that each country has its own copyright laws, and while these have been unified to an extent through the Berne Convention, it’s still a bit of a mess. To really get in there look at the [Copyright] Act and the Convention, that will show you how geographically divided it all is.

Jeremy was very helpful, and a very charming, well-spoken and charismatic man. Our feature website could definitely be more dynamic and engaging if we could include a video interview with him regarding copyright law. This would also make our feature more authoritative – hearing the explanation directly from an expert.

Do you think videos work well in online features? Would you watch it, or skip right on to the next page?

The World Wide - Where?

When I began my search on the legality of online streaming, I did what any self-respecting Internet user would do: I hit up Google.

Unfortunately for me, all the top results were articles and videos detailing how to circumvent the current ban in Australia. This was not particularly helpful.

Stepen Quin and Stephen Lamble wrote of the dangers of relying on Google in their book, ‘Online Newsgathering’. There is so much content on the Internet that much of it will not be picked up by search engines. Rather, I had to turn to the ‘hidden web’ to find material that will point me in the right direction.

AustLii is a portal that allows access to a variety of decisions of State and Federal Courts in Australia. Using a Boolean search (copyright OR “intellectual property” AND internet) I found several cases that will assist the development of our feature.

While there is no case law regarding video streaming, I am working on the assumption that the same principles apply to audio media online. Particularly helpful to my research is Cooper v Universal Music Australia, a 2006 decision of the Federal Court of Australia. It discussed the operation of copyright, licensing and intellectual property rights in the Internet Age. These explanations were very useful, and this case has also given me the names of lawyers in this area of practice who may be available for interviews.

This is a very underdeveloped research area, evidenced by my initial Google search. Our feature will be a real and substantial clarification of a very complex issue. However, research is going to be trickier than I originally thought.

Have you ever experienced problems with Google? How do you find content that search engines don't readily provide? Let me know below!

Down the Legal Rabbit Hole

Lone Star College Online (2012) 'Law Book' <http://www.txprofdev.org/apps/onlineteaching/legal/>

I have a confession to make – I am addicted to Pretty Little Liars. It’s shameful, I know! Every Wednesday afternoon you will find me glued to my laptop screen waiting for another clue regarding the mysterious A’s identity.

There is a delay of fifteen episodes in Australia. Being the impatient Gen-Y-er that I am, I instinctively turn to the Internet to satisfy my PLL cravings.

Streaming television shows online is becoming so commonplace that very few people question the legality of their actions. In America, 23.9 million people use the service Netflix to access huge amounts on online content.

However, streaming shows yet to be released in Australia does constitute an offence: intellectual property theft.

Over the next few weeks I will investigate how international licensing agreements work to answer two big questions:

1. As a matter of law, why can’t I access Netflix, Hulu and other streaming services in Australia?
   
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2. If these services were to move to Australia, how could they legally enforce their rights to stream movies and television shows exclusively?