Sign up and show your support for free copyright licences Each and every day teachers across New Zealand run the risk of breaking the law. But you can help to stop that by adding your voice to the ‘School Copyright Licensing Initiative’, which is calling for copyright licensing to be centrally funded by government and available free to all schools, writes Martin Drew. What if copyright licensing was centrally funded by the Government, thus permanently enabling teachers to use any material without the fear of the consequences of copyright infringement? ETV thinks access to all audio visual, music and print resources to enhance teaching should be available to all educators and all schools. So, we have set up the ‘School Copyright Licensing Initiative’ and are asking for your support. Thanks to everyone who has already added their name to the petition. But we need more if we’re to convince the Government to take this important step.
Protected from prosecution
Copyright licences grant users permission to copy or do other restricted acts that are otherwise prohibited under the Copyright Act. Failure to pay licence fees may result in legal action if copyright law is broken. Elsewhere, these licences are already centrally funded. In Australia and the UK, for example, teachers can go about their daily teaching safe in the knowledge that they’re fully protected from any threat of copyright prosecution. Licences are purchased for schools by their respective governments, making it easy and cost effective to access a broad array of curated educational content from online resource centres (similar to ETV) that deliver licensed material to schools. Here in New Zealand, however, the situation is very different. Copyright
licences are currently purchased by each individual school on a voluntary basis, as directed by their Board of Trustees. This is a legacy environment that was created under the 1980s ‘Tomorrow’s Schools’ policy, which, especially in an anywhere, anytime post-Covid learning environment, is demonstrably no longer fit for purpose. While it’s true to say that no school has so far been prosecuted for copyright infringement, the potential consequences if it were to happen are significant. According to TKI (tki.org.nz): “The person (student, teacher or other employee) doing the restricted act is personally liable for copyright infringement, but in some circumstances their activity may also give rise to civil and criminal liability for the school’s principal and the supervising Board of Trustees.” The Ministry of Education’s purpose is to shape an education system that delivers equitable and excellent outcomes. Indeed, a strong theme from the Prime Minister is
Please add your voice to this call for a government-funded copyright licence for all schools by signing the petition here. 14
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that we need to maintain momentum to close the digital divide and address equity issues in education. Surely, equal and equitable access to copyright licences is a key step towards the stronger, fairer education system that is key to Labour Government policy? That’s why we need a centrally-funded copyright licence. That’s why we’ve set up the ‘School Copyright Licensing Initiative’. And that’s why we need your help. We’ve set up a petition and urge you to join us in calling on the Government to provide equity by funding copyright licensing for all schools. Add your voice to this message at bit.ly/ copyrightpetition Martin Drew is General Manager of ETV. Find out more about ETV at etv.nz
