Secret US Deal May Leave Australians Paying More For Music

An American-led treaty that aims to crackdown on internet piracy is likely to leave Australians paying more for music and movies according to experts today.

A detailed version of the confidential Trans Pacific Partnership free trade agreement has been published by Wikileaks overnight. Fairfax have reported that Australia, one of the 12 countries involved in the treaty, are backing the US position despite objections by countries including Canada, Japan and New Zealand.

Intellectual property law expert Mathew Rimmer told Fairfax that the bolstering of copyright protections would give multinational companies the ability to maintain and raise prices for music and movies. Currently, Australians pay significantly more for legally downloaded music, most evident in the discrepancies between iTunes prices in Australia and the US.

“One could see the TPP as a Christmas wish-list for major corporations, and the copyright parts of the text support such a view,” Rimmer said. “Hollywood, the music industry, big IT companies such as Microsoft… would all be very happy with this.”

He said that the treaty was skewed towards the objectives of the American and multinational companies, adding that “with little focus on the rights and interests of consumers, let alone broader community interests.”

Prime Minister Tony Abbot indicated he was keen to have the talks concluded next month, while Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson has asked for a draft text of the treaty to be tabled in the Senate.

The leak is set to inflame the 'consumer access vs music industry' profits debate that has plagued the industry since illegal downloading began to erode at the industry's revenue. Industry and artists have fought hard to protect the copyright of their art in order to earn a living off music, but have found it hard engaging a generation of music consumers who, for a large part, have been brought up to believe that music – and movies – are free.

In last year's Digital Music Report from the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry [IFPI] ARIA CEO Dan Rosen said he was continuing to work with governments, “To ensure there is a regime in place to protect copyright online, one that rewards creators and those who invest in them. This is particularly important in light of the NBN roll-out, which without the necessary copyright protection in place, will be a catalyst for increased online piracy across the country.”

IFPI' CEO France Moore, one of the global music industry's most outspoken enemies of illegal downloading, is being brought out by ARIA later this month to speak at their ARIA Masterclass event.

She said in the report that music markets “remain rigged by illegal free music. This is a problem where governments have a critical role to play, in particular by requiring more cooperation from advertisers, search engines, ISPs and other intermediaries. These companies' activities have a decisive influence in shaping a legitimate digital music business.”

The full Wikileaks document is available here.