Promotion and Education > Public Education Activities > Copyright (Amendment) Ordinances 2007 and 2009

Copyright (Amendment) Ordinances 2007 and 2009

The Copyright (Amendment) Ordinances 2007 and 2009 were passed by the Legislative Council on 27 June 2007 and 18 November 2009 respectively. The new provisions of these Ordinances have been commencing in stages so as to allow time for the Administration to roll out suitable publicity and public education programmes, and for stakeholders in the relevant sectors to get prepared.

Publicity and Public Education Activities

I. For the education sector: -

To promote fair dealing for education and improvements to existing permitted acts for education, IPD organised seminars targeting at headmasters and teachers, and distributed leaflets and DVDs to primary schools, secondary schools and other educational establishments.

‧A Guide for Teachers and Students (July 2007) (PDF format)

‧Copyright in Education (July 2007) (Video version)

‧Note for Non-profit Making Educational Establishments Relating to the Use of Copyright Works in the Course of Teaching and Learning (June 2010) (PDF format)

II. For the trade/business sector:-

1. Liberalisation of parallel imports

To promote the change of legal position in relation to importation and use of parallel imported copies of copyright works in business, IPD produced a leaflet for distribution to the business sector through the help of the major trade/business associations. A print advertisement was also placed in local newspapers and business magazines.

‧A Guide to Parallel Imports (July 2007) (PDF format)

‧Print Advertisement (July 2007) (PDF format, Chinese version only)

2. Prohibitions on Circumvention Devices

To promote prohibitions on circumvention devices, particularly to combat the sale of or the provision of services for modified game consoles and other tools, IPD launched a series of publicity, which included broadcasting a TV announcement on TV stations, buses and outdoor TV panels, displaying posters in major computer shopping centres and distributing leaflets to shop vendors. To extend the publicity to users’ level, posters and leaflets were also distributed to local secondary schools.

‧TV Announcement (April 2007)

‧Poster – Protect Technological Measures (April 2008) (PDF format)

‧Leaflet - Prohibitions on Circumvention Devices
(October 2007) (PDF format)

3. Business end-users’ offences

3.1 The possession offence

IPD published a “Guidance Note on Prevention of End-User Piracy in Business” for distribution to the business sector in early 2008. Print advertisement was also used to publicise the new provisions about directors’/partners’ criminal liability before and after the commencement date.

3.2 The copying and distribution offence

IPD launched a series of publicity, which mainly included revising the “Guidance Note on Prevention of End-User Piracy in Business” for distribution to the business sector and co-organising seminars by enlisting the help from the major trade/business associations as well as NGOs. Print advertisement was also used to publicise the new provisions about copying and distribution offence before and after the commencement date.

‧Print Advertisement – Possession Offence
(July 2008) (PDF format)

‧Guidance Note on Prevention of End-User Piracy in Business
(Revised Edition 2010) (PDF format)

‧Print Advertisement – Copying and Distribution Offence
(July 2010) (PDF format)