3 Jul 2013

Bill to extend ban on parallel imports of movies

12:02 pm on 3 July 2013

The Government has introduced a bill to Parliament extending a ban on the parallel imports of movies.

The bill was referred to a select committee after being introduced under urgency.

Under the Copyright Act, parallel importation of films is banned for nine months after a movie is first released, but the ban was due to expire at the end of October.

The amendment bill extends that ban until 2016, but only for the first five months after a movie's release.

An explanatory note to the legislation said it will give the film industry the time to finish converting to digital technology, as well as ensuring the distribution model reflects developments in the market for films, particularly online.