Government to request Productivity Commission to review parallel importation of books

The Communique from the  Council of Australian Governments’ (COAG) Meeting of 3 July 2008 includes reference to an COAG’s agreement on a number of priority areas for competition reform, including parallel importation of books. According to the Communique, the Commonwealth will request the Productivity Commission to undertake reviews of Australia’s anti-dumping system and parallel import restrictions on books.

“Parallel importation” refers to importation of products containing copyright material made legitimately in the country of manufacture. Parallel importation of books requires permission from the Australian copyright owner, unless the book was not published in Australia within 30 days of its publication overseas, or the Australian copyright owner cannot supply the book within 90 days.

The Copyright Act was amended in 1991 to allow parallel importation in the circumstances outlined above, following a report of the Prices Surveillance Authority. The Act was subsequently amended to allow parallel importation in more extensive circumstances for CDs, computer software and computer games.

More:

• COAG Communique
• register with Productivity Commission to receive information about the progress of the inquiry as it becomes available