Redbubble is mad that Australia doesn’t back unlicensed-merch store

From The Australian:

Mr Hosking, whose online marketplace firm employs 110 people in Australia, said without safe harbour protections, Red­bubble’s continued presence in Australia was at risk due a constant threat of legal action.

“I want to be here, and I want a modern, innovative Australia. The government is asking for ­innovation from corporations, but the government has to show that same level of innovation,” Mr Hosking told The Australian.

“And to sit on laws which date back 100 years or more, in order to protect a small number of vested interests, is frankly retarded.”

[…]

In virtually all other markets a copyright holder — such as ­the Hells Angels or Nintendo for example, which are both engaged in action against Redbubble — is ­obligated to contact Redbubble first before the platform is held ­responsible for any infringement.

Right…

For the record Redbubble, which sells user-generated merch, such as stickers and t-shirts, wants protection in cases where users have submitted copyrighted IP. For example, right now a search for, say, Mario shows up to 15,580 pieces of unauthorised Nintendo merch submitted by users. Nintendo doesn’t get a cut from these sales and would presumably want Redbubble to not sell these products. Redbubble believes that unless a copyright holder contacts Redbubble then there should be no issue with selling this kind of stuff.

Which essentially makes it the Paddy’s Market of the internet.