Commercialisation/IP: Commercialising Intellectual Property - Options for Owners
Commercialising intellectual property is one way a country as geographically isolated as New Zealand can punch above its weight on the world stage. Not only is it easier to physically move intellectual property assets such as software, furniture designs or films to markets overseas, but there are a myriad of options for structuring the way these assets are sold once they get there.

Question of the month
Q: I've heard that proposed changes to the Copyright Act will make it "legal" for me to copy a music CD onto my computer hard-drive? Is this true?

A: Yes, a cabinet paper containing policy recommendations and proposals to amend the Copyright Act includes a proposal to establish an exception allowing the owner of a legitimately acquired sound recording to make one copy of the recording in each format for personal and domestic use. Although the exact scope of the exception is yet to be set, the copying of a CD to mp3 format (or other digital formats) is a "format shift". However, the proposed exception will still not give a consumer a right to make a CD copy for use in the car stereo. CD to CD copying will still be illegal because it is not format shifting.

Answered by Rob Batty, Solicitor, Simpson Grierson
Link to Article: Format Shifting – What's Going On?