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Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, on the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 at a media session in the Legislative Council Complex today (December 18):
Reporter: Mr So, you said there is already a high-level consensus, but is this really so given the outcry ...? And is it really not possible to buy a few more months ...?
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development: I just explained the process that we started in 2011, communicated in 2012. The Bills Committee finished the deliberation and came back for the resumption of second reading. And there was a view at that time that parody needed to be looked at. And that was again there was a pause to think about it. We did think about it and we resolved it and got this convergence. And now this is at the stage after we paused and thought about it and having the convergence coming back with a package. But there are still other issues that are still in dispute from both sides and there is no convergence. So, we could pause, we could pause again. If we pause again, then it would take a few years. How many more few years do we have for Hong Kong? We must progress. Our bill is hopelessly outdated, we need to update it now. I think all parties think this bill is beneficial. So let's move on and have this legislation passed.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Friday, December 18, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:27
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