Creative Freedom Foundation - For Fair Copyright Reform in NZ

Thanks to Mathew and Bronwyn, the Creative Freedom Foundation is here:

The Creative Freedom Foundation launches today in New Zealand to unite artists who are against the removal of New Zealander's rights through proposed changes in Copyright law, done in the name of protecting creativity.

Unlike recent issues such as the Hire and Fire bill, the amendments to the Copyright Act are not receiving a great deal of media coverage and public recognition. The first big push for the Creative Freedom Foundation is to raise awareness amongst the creative community of what the government is planning and explaining the context of these changes.

New Zealand's democracy is more fragile than many people assume. One of the largest issues (for a variety of reasons, especially due to the fact that we do not have a formally established constitution) is that the ruling parliamentary party, and especially the cabinet and prime minister are able to wield an extraordinary amount of transformative power - there are few checks and balances to control a government hell bent on reform at any cost. But we still have a democracy, and it's important not to accept all government decisions passively. If there is widespread public disagreement with particular legislation, then we do have the ability to apply collective pressure for change. The most difficult thing is getting enough people to care.

Do you disagree with the direction taken by the Copyright Ammendment Act? Go sign the petition and join the Facebook groups Creative Freedom Foundation and Fair Copyright for New Zealand.