**********************************************
Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, to the media on the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2011, after attending the Legislative Council meeting today (May 9):
Reporter: Some legislators say that they hope the bill would be withdrawn. What are your views on that?
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development: As I said, this Bill is very important to Hong Kong. It updates our copyright law and it is not intended to deal specifically with parody. In fact, if you review the amendment that we are proposing, there is not even one single provision dealing with parody. It is not meant to restrict freedom of expression or speech. This is a bill that is introduced to update our law to be commensurate with the international standard.
Reporter: Do you think this law will be passed in this government term?
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development: As I just indicated, it is important for the Government to prioritise all our bills and motions in view of the limited time remaining in LegCo in the current term. I need to go back and liaise with my other colleagues in the bureaux and, in view of the overall package, to push our legislative initiatives forward.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Issued at HKT 16:03
NNNN
