Australian Music and the Parallel Importation Dedate

Abstract

Despite vigorous protest from the local recording industry and musicians, the Australian federal government passed the Copyright Amendment Bill (No. 2) 1997 into law in June 1998. The Bill is designed to remove the neo-oligopolistic practices of the multinational recording companies, and reduce the prices of compact discs for local consumers. The music industry believes that the Bill removes the value of artists' copyright as the primary means of income and as a mechanism in identifying and protecting intellectual property. This article analyses the benefits and costs of the recent copyright changes, and the effects of consumer reform for local producers. It is argued that the music industry provides a rich site of tension in regard to global cultural economies, where notions of consumer sovereignty do not complement broader ideologies of cultural citizenship and economic nationalism.