Mark
11-04-05, 06:07 AM
AUSTRALIA'S pay-TV industry and the Screenrights copyright collection agency will today start a three-week court battle to determine the amount the pay-TV sector should pay copyright owners for the use of programs shown on retransmitted free-to-air TV signals.
The court skirmish comes only days after pay-TV groups Foxtel and Optus agreed to changes to their content-sharing deal, which enables Optus to convert its 170,000 analogue pay-TV subscribers to digital.
A retransmission fee became payable to underlying copyright holders after the Digital Agenda bill was amended in 2001. That allowed pay-TV companies to retransmit the free-to-air TV networks on their service but they must also pay the copyright owners a fee.
But after three years of negotiations, Screenrights and the pay-TV industry's peak group (the Australian Subscription TV and Radio Association) were unable to reach agreement on what fee was reasonable and Screenrights took action in the Copyright Tribunal – part of the Federal Court – last year.
The first hearing, held last October, focused on the legal framework and covered the operation of retransmission schemes overseas. But the latest hearing is set to determine what will be considered a reasonable payment.
The pay-TV sector argues only a nominal fee should be payable to the underlying rights holders, which include TV program producers and Hollywood movie studios.
SOURCE (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12813957%255E7582,00.html)
The court skirmish comes only days after pay-TV groups Foxtel and Optus agreed to changes to their content-sharing deal, which enables Optus to convert its 170,000 analogue pay-TV subscribers to digital.
A retransmission fee became payable to underlying copyright holders after the Digital Agenda bill was amended in 2001. That allowed pay-TV companies to retransmit the free-to-air TV networks on their service but they must also pay the copyright owners a fee.
But after three years of negotiations, Screenrights and the pay-TV industry's peak group (the Australian Subscription TV and Radio Association) were unable to reach agreement on what fee was reasonable and Screenrights took action in the Copyright Tribunal – part of the Federal Court – last year.
The first hearing, held last October, focused on the legal framework and covered the operation of retransmission schemes overseas. But the latest hearing is set to determine what will be considered a reasonable payment.
The pay-TV sector argues only a nominal fee should be payable to the underlying rights holders, which include TV program producers and Hollywood movie studios.
SOURCE (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12813957%255E7582,00.html)