The opposition camp should accept and vote for the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 because it is a clearer piece of legislation that contains several exemptions, lawmaker Chan Kam-lam said ahead of resumption of the second reading of the bill on Wednesday.
Chan, chairman of the relevant bills committee, hoped it would finally be passed within this month, after it was delayed by disruptive filibusters that led to an aborted meeting on Dec 9 last year. He further urged President of the Legislative Council Jasper Tsang Yok-sing to end filibusters by opposition lawmakers.
In an exclusive interview with China Daily, Chan, from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said the government proposal contains exemptions in six areas, including parody, satire and commenting on current affairs, in regard to the liability of netizens.
"It is better than not passing the bill," he said, but added there would be no harm even if it was vetoed.
"The bill is advantageous to netizens and they should not ask for further exemptions from using the works of the copyright owners. Their further demands of fair use, contract override and user-generated content are unacceptable because that will affect intellectual property rights and the creative industry."
He said these three demands were rather controversial and should be discussed rationally at a later stage after the current law amendment.
Chan understands the strong reaction and concerns of copyright owners, who said they would rather keep the status quo than see the further three amendments demanded by netizens passed, which they say would inflict great damage on them.
From the meetings he has attended with government officials and copyright owners, Chan has not seen officials manage to persuade copyright owners to make further concessions or seen the copyright owners yielding.
He thinks the government will let the legislature decide to pass or veto the bill - believing the government will not withdraw the bill if the opposition's three amendments are carried.
In the past, the government has withdrawn bills related to important government policies and finances. But he does not think the government will do this with a copyright bill.

Source: China Daily