The Copyright Clink Conundrum : Is Chan Nai-Ming the Modern Day Josef K.?

Abstract

A study of the plight of the unfortunate3 Mr Chan Nai-Ming of Hong Kong leads the authors to conclude that a by-product of the digital age is the increasing criminalisation of copyright law. Increasingly, there is a worldwide trend to impose criminal liability for copyright infringement. For instance, in Australia broad ranging amendments to the Copyright Act, which (in part) implement obligations under the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) were introduced into parliament on 19 October 2006.4 This is part of a growing trend that originated in the United States with the introduction of harsh criminal laws to prohibit the infringement of copyrighted works to prevent piracy.5 However, according to the Law Society's intellectual property working group an EU directive intended to target organized crime could see innocent victims face criminal proceedings for intellectual property infringement.6 Significantly, it would appear that few have considered the absurd 'full-on' ramifications of this attempt to impose criminal sanctions on those who commit minor infringements of copyrighted works.