The Minister in charge of Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), John Luxton, today announced large fee reductions for LINZ-held topographic information.

"Under the new pricing regime, all copyright fees for the reproduction of LINZ held digital data, topographic maps and aerial photographs will be abolished. Previously a large map producer could have paid copyright fees of around $100,000 per year. Now the fee for digital data will only reflect the cost of its dissemination," Mr Luxton said.

"The fee drop will be a real benefit to Crown Research Institutes, emergency services, the tourist industry, schools, local authorities, private sector geographic information systems companies and individuals. For example, the cost to data distributors of buying the entire 1:50,000 digital database will drop from almost $2 million, to around $1500 which is a massive saving."

"The copyright charge meant that very few organisations could afford to use the data. Access to affordable topographic data will greatly assist New Zealand's participation in the information age," Mr Luxton said.

Previously LINZ like other Government departments, was working to policy set in the mid1980s which dictated a cost recovery framework. The new fees for topographic data will come into effect as soon as the required regulations are in place. The cost of buying Land Information New Zealand's printed topographic maps will remain the same.

"The changes make it easier for advances such as scientific studies about the establishment of new crops and locations for growing them. It will also be easier to pursue opportunities such as putting New Zealand data in vehicle GPS navigation systems. At the other end of the scale tramping clubs will be able to photocopy and distribute topographic maps without paying copyright fees," Mr Luxton concluded.

ENDS

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