Polytechnic pays up over copyright row

Two publishers have won tens of thousands of dollars in an out-of-court settlement from Rotorua's Waiariki Institute of Technology after it copied up to 40 per cent of works by New Zealand authors including Michael King, Claudia Orange and Ranginui Walker without copyright licences.

Copyright Licensing Limited (CLL) had laid its action in the High Court at Rotorua on behalf of publishers Elsevier and Edward Arnold.

CLL chairman Mark Sayes said yesterday that the matter had now been settled out of court with Waiariki agreeing to pay two years of licensing fees - about $24,000 a year - plus court and legal costs .

Investigations had shown Waiariki Institute of Technology was involved in significant copying of text books and articles.

"We knew substantial breaches of copyright would be taking place at Waiariki when the institute decided not to renew its copyright licence for 2004 and staff had not been properly advised of this decision," CLL chief executive Kathy Sheat said. "We found that in one instance, 40 per cent of a textbook had been reproduced as part of a book of readings," Ms Sheat said.

Works by Michael King, Claudia Orange and Ranginui Walker had also been infringed.

"Authors have a right to be remunerated for the use of their intellectual property," Walker said.

Under the Copyright Act 1994, educational institutions can make multiple copies of up to 3 per cent, or three pages, of a work for students without a licence.

Mr Sayes said it was inappropriate to say exactly how much the settlement was but "for any educational institute, this sort of money is hard to come by. There are definitely better things to be spending money on".

- NZPA