Dear Minister
There are grave concerns about a very destructive law which comes into effect at the end of February this year, passed by the previous Government.
As an artist and publisher, I support copyright as a means to return value to artists.
This law is well intentioned, but destructive to NZ's image. If our Government allows laws that enforce the presumption of guilt and enforces punitive measures taken by citizens for something that existing laws actually cover, chaos will ensue. There is a balance in law, but this law is a black sheep upon the NZ legislature.
The new Government will be considered weak and unintelligent if it does not grasp this nettle and expunge this black mark. It has made the international media with articles in The Guardian today.
We must protect copyright - not by preventing publication but providing a simple way for artists to insist on the payment of royalties. That solves the problem.
The issue of file sharing - distributors merely need to adopt the new technology and take ownership of their market. It is not expensive. Law should never enshrine old technology or it risks uncompetitive failure.
This law rewards those who refuse to service their market with the most effective means of the promulgation of the arts. Government has no business over-regulating normal business processes.
Yours sincerely,
Nicholas Alexander
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