Commerce Minister Paul Goldsmith says he does not expect people would be prosecuted for watching overseas versions of Netflix after a law change to accommodate the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement.

Goldsmith released a discussion paper that said New Zealand had to provide stronger protection to "digital locks" that protect copyright works because of the trade agreement.

The paper proposed that people would continue to be allowed to circumvent "geo-blocks" on physical items, for example regional blocks on DVDs. But it proposed no similar exemption for breaking regional locks on digital services, such as online television services.

Goldsmith said that if people got around geo-blocks to access foreign content in a way that did not infringe copyright, then that would not be an offence.

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Media companies MediaWorks, Sky Television, Spark subsidiary Lightbox and Television New Zealand went to court last year claiming a service, Global Mode, breached their rights by helping people access television programmes from overseas, from the likes of Netflix, for which had they bought the local copyright.

However, the case was settled and Global Mode was withdrawn in New Zealand before the dispute went to trial.

Goldsmith appeared to suggest television viewers could relax. "I am not aware of any individual that has been prosecuted for accessing Netflix and do not expect that to change under the TPP proposals," he said.

He would not say whether the Government's position was that breaking geo-blocks to access overseas television services could not breach local copyright.

"Whether accessing legitimate foreign content websites breaches copyright has not been tested in New Zealand courts," he said.

The Government had previously been unclear on whether the copyright provisions of the TPPA might force it to restrict access to services such as the US version of Netflix.

The TPPA allows signatories to maintain exemptions they already have in place for cracking so-called "technological protection measures", which in New Zealand's case includes regional blocks on DVDs.

But the legal status of cracking locks on overseas online services had been a grey area, meaning the Government's ability to grant an exemption for accessing overseas online services had been in doubt.

Breaking digital locks on copyright works without a valid exemption would be a civil offence, unless it was for "commercial gain or advantage", it which case it would be criminal.

The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment is inviting submissions on the proposals by March 30.