Aussie Music Industry Bodies Express Support For New Anti-Piracy Bill

The music industry has begun to react to the news of the Australian Senate's passing of controversial legislation enabling content rights holders to block access to websites with a "primary purpose" of piracy, with newly issued statements from both APRA/AMCOS and Music Rights Australia applauding the Senate's decision to pass the new laws.

In response to the news that the Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2015 had passed, APRA/AMCOS issued a statement praising both the Federal Government and Opposition for "jointly acknowledg[ing] the damage caused by online copyright infringement to Australia's creative industries, recognising the mass scale on which illegal downloading occurs and the need to implement efficient and effective ways for rights holders to protect their work".

"The bill will enable rights holders to seek injunctions in the Federal Court to block access to overseas websites such as The Pirate Bay and Kickass Torrents that unlawfully distribute their music," the statement read.

"APRA AMCOS is satisfied that the new copyright Bill takes into account the need to protect the interests of their 87,000+ Australian and New Zealand songwriter and composer members," it continued. "The passing of the Bill caps off months of lobbying to the Federal Government and Opposition by a coalition of creative arts and media organisations working together."

The company's chief executive, Brett Cottle, appeared during the Senate's inquiry into the bill, saying at the time that the introduction of the legislation would provide the creative sector with "a means to fight back, it will assist in changing the behaviour of Australian consumers and, most importantly, it will send a powerful, practical and symbolic message to the artists and creators of Australia."

"Australia's creative industries have been waiting for a very long time for Parliament to provide an expression of support and respect for their work and their place in the life of the nation."

Joining the early chorus of support for the newly passed bill is Vanessa Hutley, the general manager of Music Rights Australia, itself a joint initiative of APRA AMCOS and ARIA. In welcoming the Bill's passage, Hutley also thanked the Government and Opposition "for supporting this important legislation and through it showing their support for the creative industries, which are such an important part of Australia's cultural and economic life".

“[The new legislation] gives the creative community an effective tool to disrupt illegal offshore sites which make millions of dollars from advertising but give nothing back to the artists whose work they systematically exploit on a massive scale," Hutley said in a statement. 

"Australian consumers have over 30 licensed online music sites to choose from across a range of platforms and at price points, including free on advertising supported services, yet these illegal sites have continued to flourish and make money for their operators because there was nothing the copyright owners could do locally to stop them. Until now.”