Copyright Tribunal to expand for new internet law ... but will it still get snowed?

A spokesman for Justice Minister Simon Powers' office said the Copyright Tribunal will have three extra members and a larger budget following the passing of the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill passed this morning.

He said the tribunal now had extended jurisdiction and this would be funded from the current ministry budget - but was fuzzy on what the actual dollar amount could be.

The tribunal would have a larger case load and was expecting more complaints now that it was policing the new regime, the spokesman said.

The current chair is Victoria University legal academic Professor Susy Frankel, backed by members Peter Dengate-Thrush (who also serves on the global internet organisation Icann) and the University of Auckland law school's Paul Sumpter.

From three to five
He said since the tribunal would require more resources, it was likely it would need a larger slice of the ministry's budget than previously. 

The tribunal would expand from its current state of a chair plus two members (all of whom have day jobs), to a chair plus five members. 

The question now: will five part-time members be enough if copyright holders, such as movie studios, record labels and software companies bring an avalanche of complaints against internet users (and anecdotal evidence is that there's not shortage of "offenders").

Some costs recouped through application fee
The spokesman went on to say that some of this outflow would be recouped through the implementation of an application fee applicable to claims of an amount yet to be determined. 

The fee would only apply to copyright owners pursuing a claim with the tribunal, he said, and there was no fee for disputing a claim.

The spokespman said the ministry was now in the process of selecting the new members.

Acting general manager of special jurisdictions Heather Baggott said "The Ministry of Economic Development are responsible for the appointment process of new Tribunal members. The implementation date for the new Act is 1 September and the Ministry of Justice, which administers the Tribunal is considering any new staffing and/or business requirements. The Ministry is working with MED to ensure that occurseffectively."