XN000022-1997-01-29 — Page 15

4.

On that basis, we have drafted a comprehensive Copyright Bill with a view to achieving four policy objectives, namely, localisation of law, modernisation of law, compliance with international obligations, and balance of interests. As regard the last policy objective, I wish to stress that we are conscious of the need to ensure that copyright owners and exclusive licensees are adequately protected so that they can enjoy the full benefit of their copyright products in Hong Kong. At the same time, we need to ensure that consumers of copyright products continue to enjoy access to a wide range of genuine, legal products at reasonable prices.

Parallel Importation

Mr President, I am sure Honourable Members will appreciate that striking the right balance of interests is never an easy task. Parallel importation in the context of copyright is a clear example. Over the last year, the issue of parallel importation has attracted much debate in the copyright-related industries. The existing law provides for both criminal and civil sanctions against parallel imports which, broadly speaking, refer to those copyright products, namely, computer programs, books, sound recordings and films, that are lawfully manufactured abroad with the consent of the copyright owner there, but are being imported without authorisation from the copyright owner or the exclusive licensee here in Hong Kong.

We have been carefully examining the arguments both for and against the regulation on parallel importation. We note that there is so far no international standard or consensus on the issue of parallel importation. Most developed countries with high standards of copyright protection and with net export of intellectual property products prohibit parallel importation. For example, the US copyright law gives a copyright owner the exclusive right to distribute his copyright works and empowers him to seek remedies for infringement of the distribution right. The European Union (EU) member states maintain restrictions against parallel imports from outside the Union, although they have abolished restrictions on parallel imports among the member states, in line with the European single-market concept. Australia maintains criminal and civil sanctions against parallel importation in general but allows direct importation of books under specified circumstances. It is also examining the question of deregulation of parallel importation for sound recordings under specified circumstances.

Singapore has chosen to allow parallel imports. I have been told that this has assisted the cinema trade and increased the range of overseas copyright goods available. However, we note that Singapore does not face the risk of great damage to its economy from flow-back of lower price copyright goods from adjacent markets, given that its exports of copyright works, (unlike Hong Kong) are not a major factor in Singapore's economic prosperity.