The Hong Kong government has dropped an amended copyright bill after several months of delay by the Legislative Council (LegCo).
According to Channel NewsAsia, the copyright bill has been dropped to the bottom of the legislative agenda after the LegCo, Hong Kong’s legislature, expressed concerns that it would restrict freedom of expression.
The bill is called the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014. A reporter explains in a video that Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Gregory So “sees no point in wasting any more time on it, and instead he wants the LegCo to move on to the backlog of 27 bills”.
The current copyright law dates from 1997, before the internet was widely available, and copyright protection lasts for 50 years after the creator of the work dies with minor variations.
Criminal sanctions for infringement include up to four years imprisonment with a maximum fine of HK$50,000 ($6,400) per infringing article.
Making, importing or exporting products “for defeating technological copyright protection systems” carries a maximum fine of HK$500,000 and a four-year prison term.
The bill wanted to limit online service providers’ liability.
The pan-democrats argued that the bill doesn’t offer enough protection for free speech, even though amendments have been made to include parody, satire and caricature.
So had spoken to news service news.gov.hk on February 29 and explained that the “copyright amendment is about balancing the rights between the owners as well as the user; the balance has been achieved in this package”.
“We urge all parties to try their best to deliberate and debate on the existing bill for its early passage,” he added at the time.

Source: WIPR