Recommendations by the government's productivity commission to cut copyright protection would have a devastating impact on the nation’s screenwriters, the Australian Writers Guild says.
“The productivity commission seems to be recommending that broadcasters and distributors continue to make money by exploiting the intellectual property in film and TV shows while the creators of these works should be stripped of their rights to be paid", AWG executive director Jacqueline Elaine said.
“This recommendation, if adopted, would be yet another blow to Australians authors who, as it is, struggle to receive a fair return for their work."
Elaine also blasted the commission's proposal to implement US-style “fair use” provisions.
“Fair use is only fair when everyone benefits; under the Productivity Commissions proposals the authors of Australian creative works will be left with little or nothing to show for their efforts”, Elaine said
“The Australian Writers’ Guild is all for copyright reforms that work. But ideological reform that strikes at the very heart of the creative process is counterproductive.”
The productivity commission is calling for written responses to the draft report by June 3 and will hold public hearings next month.