Chapter 1Introduction
1.1On 10 August 2023, the Senate referred the Copyright Legislation Amendment (Fair Pay for Radio Play) Bill 2023 (the Bill) to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee (the committee) for inquiry and report by 20 June 2024.
1.2The Bill was introduced into the Senate by Senator David Pocock and would amend the Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) to remove provisions that prevent commercial radio broadcasters from paying more than one per cent of their gross earnings in licence fees for the broadcast of sound recordings.
Conduct of the inquiry
1.3In accordance with its usual practice, the committee advertised the inquiry on its website and wrote to relevant organisations and individuals inviting submissions by 10 November 2023.
1.4The committee received 56 submissions, which are listed at Appendix 1 and are available on the committee’s website. The committee also received one form letter from 24 individuals.
1.5The committee held a public hearing in Canberra on 7 March 2023. A list of witnesses who appeared at the hearing is at Appendix 2.
1.6The committee thanks the organisations and individuals who gave evidence at the public hearing, as well as those who made written submissions.
Structure of the report
1.7This report comprises two chapters:
Chapter 1 outlines the administrative details of the inquiry and the key provisions of the Bill; and
Chapter 2 examines the key issues raised by submitters and witnesses, and sets out the committee’s views and recommendations in relation to the Bill.
Outline of the Bill
1.8The Bill comprises one schedule that sets out the key provision in the Bill, which would repeal subsections 152(8) to 152(11) of the Act.
1.9At present, these subsections cap the amount that the Copyright Tribunal (theTribunal) can determine is payable by commercial radio broadcasters and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to copyright owners for the broadcast of published sound recordings (subsections 152(8)–152(10) and subsection 152(11), respectively):
the cap for commercial radio broadcasters is one per cent of a broadcaster’s gross earnings; and
the cap for the ABC is 0.5 cents per head of the Australian population.
1.10Senator Pocock outlined in his second reading speech:
This [B]ill makes a small change that over time will benefit Australian artists, walking in tandem with the National Cultural Policy. It will allow artists and rights holders to negotiate a fair market-based value for their work.
1.11The Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill states:
The removal of these caps has been recommended by at least five inquiries over nearly 30 years, which have generally found that the caps serve no public policy purpose and distort the market in a way that disadvantages Australian artists and rights holders.
Consideration by other parliamentary committees
1.12The Senate Scrutiny of Bills Committee considered the Bill in its report of 9August 2023 and did not make any comments in relation to the Bill.
1.13The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights considered the Bill in its report of 6 September 2023 and had no comments in relation to the Bill.
References
1.14References in this report to Committee Hansard are to the proof (uncorrected) transcript. Page numbers may vary between the proof and the official transcript.