Section 6(1)(f) of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000 gives the owner the exclusive right to authorise the importation of copies of the work. Section 15 carves out one exception.
Section 15 — importation for personal purposes
Notwithstanding section 6(1)(f), the importation of a copy of a work by a person for his own personal purposes may be made without the authorization of the author or other owner of copyright.
A copy — singular. Importing a quantity is not importing a copy.
By a person — the importer must be the person who will use it.
For his own personal purposes — the same phrase used in section 8(1) for private copying. Importing for resale, for a business, for a school or for distribution to others is outside the section.
Note two differences from section 8. Section 15 does not require the work to be published, and it carries none of the section 8(2) exclusions. A traveller may bring in a book, a film, a recording or a copy of software for their own use.
Why there is an importation right at all
Under section 6(1)(d), the distribution right applies only to a copy that has not already been subject to a distribution authorized by the owner of the copyright. Once the owner has authorised a distribution of a particular copy, the distribution right in that copy is spent, and the copy may be resold.
The importation right in paragraph (f) contains no such qualification. It is a separate right, and it is not exhausted by an authorised distribution abroad.
That is what makes parallel importing a copyright question. A trader who buys authorised copies cheaply in another country and imports them for sale here is not saved by the exhaustion rule in paragraph (d), and cannot rely on section 15 because the purpose is commercial, not personal.
The commercial importer therefore needs the owner’s authorisation. Territorial licensing — permitted by section 20(1), under which economic rights are assignable in whole or in part — is what makes that structure work.
Sound recordings have their own importation right
A producer of a sound recording has the exclusive right to carry out or authorise the importation of copies of the sound recording.
So importing a CD engages two rights: the author’s importation right in section 6(1)(f) over the musical and literary works embodied in it, and the producer’s importation right in section 22(1)(b) over the recording.
Section 15 is expressed as an exception to section 6(1)(f) only. But section 25(d) provides that sections 21, 22 and 24 do not apply where the acts relate to cases in which, under Part II, a work can be used without the authorization of the author or other owner of copyright — which carries the section 15 personal-import permission across to the producer’s right as well.
Section 26(3) — the customs power
The provisions of the Customs Act (Chapter 101) dealing with illegal goods shall apply to articles and implements used in relation to infringements of rights protected under this Act.
This is what makes the importation right practically enforceable. Infringing copies, and the implements used to make them, are treated as illegal goods under the customs legislation.
Section 26 also gives the National Court power, under its civil and criminal jurisdiction, to order the impounding of copies of works or sound recordings suspected of being made or imported without authorisation, and of the implements that could be used for making copies, together with the documents, accounts or business papers relating to them.
And under section 26(2), the search and seizure provisions of the Criminal Code Act (Chapter 262) apply to infringements of rights under this Act — which is why section 1(2)(a) declares the Act to be one made in the public interest so far as it restricts the constitutional right to freedom from arbitrary search and entry.
Where the line falls
| Scenario | Permitted without authorisation? |
|---|---|
| A traveller brings home a book bought overseas | Yes — s 15, personal purposes |
| A person orders one film online for their own viewing | Yes — s 15 |
| A retailer imports a carton of the same book to sell | No — commercial purpose; s 6(1)(f) applies and is not exhausted |
| A company imports copies of software for its staff | No — not the importer’s own personal purposes |
| A school imports textbooks for its library | No — institutional, not personal |
| A person imports a pirated copy for their own use | No — the copy is an infringing copy; s 15 does not launder it, and s 27(4) directs destruction of infringing copies |
| A person imports a device to strip copy protection | No — s 29(1)(a), unlawful and assimilated to infringement |
| A person imports a decoder to receive an encrypted broadcast they are not entitled to | No — s 29(1)(b) |
Section 15 permits the act of importation of a copy for personal purposes. It does not make an infringing copy lawful. Where copies exist that were made without authorisation, section 27(4) requires the Court to order their destruction or other reasonable disposition, unless the owner requests otherwise — subject to section 27(5), which protects copies and packaging acquired by a third party in good faith.
Sources
- Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000 — ss 1, 6, 8, 15, 20, 22, 25–29
- Criminal Code Act (Chapter 262)
The Customs Act (Chapter 101), referred to in section 26(3), is cited without a link as it is not currently available on PacLII.
Before relying on anything here, read the current text of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000 and check for later amendments. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor, or find a firm in the law firms directory.