Consumer Focus, The Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec), the Open Rights Group, the Libraries and Archives Copyright Alliance (LACA) and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), are calling for reforms of the UK’s copyright law to be speeded up. The call comes after the latest survey by Consumers International¹ reveals that the UK continues to significantly lag behind other developed nations on copyright issues.

For the fourth successive year the UK has been in the survey’s bottom three. UK copyright law must be updated to be fair for consumers and to drive vital economic growth.  Therefore all of the recommendations from the recent Hargreaves Review should be implemented without delay.²

According to the  survey, which looks at how copyright laws in 30 countries balance the interests of copyright owners with those of consumers, the UK was ranked third from the bottom. Overall Consumers International gave the UK a C- rating, only Jordan and Argentina fared worse. Israel was ranked highest followed by Indonesia, India, New Zealand and the USA. In 2009 the UK was placed last and was third bottom in both 2010 and 2011. 

Failure to implement Professor Hargreaves' recommendations to modernise the UK’s outdated copyright exceptions would be unfair to consumers, hinder economic growth, and put the preservation of and access to our cultural heritage at risk.³ The most glaring example is the lack of a private copying exception for products consumers have already paid for. The UK’s current copyright regime does not reflect the way consumers use music, films and e-books today. As the law stands, transferring music from a CD to an MP3 player for your own use is illegal.⁴ The UK should take maximum advantage of its ability to update copyright exceptions under European law.

Outdated copyright exceptions not only bring the law into disrepute, but also force businesses to spend unnecessary time and money taking legal advice or fighting unnecessary court cases when developing digital products and services. The current copyright regime also makes it more difficult for creative industries to gain access to the UK’s significant cultural assets and hinders academic research. If the UK is to compete globally, UK based companies and cultural institutions must be free to innovate without being held back by an outdated copyright regime.

The lack of an exception for parodies stifles legitimate and important cultural engagement and expression around music, film and books. Outdated copyright exceptions also impact on cultural institutions. Libraries and archives allow society as a whole to benefit from certain copyright protected works whilst not damaging the moral or economic interest of creators and copyright owners. It makes no sense that such an important cultural function does not include film, broadcast and sound recordings.

Mike O’Connor, Chief Executive of Consumer Focus, said:

“Our copyright regime, especially on exceptions, is outdated and is both unfair for consumers and hinders economic growth. It is ludicrous that it is illegal for people to put CDs they have paid for onto laptops or MP3 players or to back-up their digital purchases.⁵ The creative industries are a beacon of hope for the UK economy and the outdated copyright regime puts us at a disadvantage against our competitors.

"The law is running miles behind current technology and the needs of the digital age, with our copyright exceptions last updated in 1988 when Walkmans, videos and cassette tapes were in fashion. We welcome the Government decision to accept the recommendations by the Hargreaves Review, and we call on them to bring them into force as soon as possible, before the UK falls any further behind.”

Jeff Lynn, Chairman of Coadec said:

“The purpose of intellectual property protection is to foster innovation, but many aspects of the current copyright regime have the opposite effect for digital businesses. Brilliant new models of producing, marketing and distributing creative content are emerging, and they thrive on the vibrancy of the internet rather than being threatened by it.

“The exceptions will allow today’s technology start-ups to compete with their European and US rivals. Digital startups and SMEs across the UK are the job creators and wealth creators of the future and they need to be able to harness the web’s potential to contribute to economic growth.”

Jim Killock, Executive Director of the Open Rights Group said:

“Music, films and books are strands of our cultural fabric, not just products to consume. Parodies are legitimate ways to engage with them, helping people learn creative techniques, entertain, express themselves or make a point about the original work. At the moment copyright in the UK puts creativity like this on the wrong side of the law, acting as a veto over culturally useful activity. That's why we need a new exception for parodies in the UK.”

Tim Padfield, Chair of LACA said:

“The preservation exception urgently needs to be extended to ensure that all kinds of copyright work, including artistic works, films, sound recordings, and works in electronic formats, are available for the benefit of future generations. Many films, sound recordings and photographs have already been lost because it was not permitted to copy them. Copies of those that remain, and that will be created in the future, are essential for the preservation of knowledge and our cultural heritage.”

-ends-

Notes to editors:

1. Consumers International (CI) are the independent global campaigning voice for consumers. With over 220 member organisations in 115 countries, they are building a powerful international consumer movement to help protect and empower consumers everywhere. CI has been conducting the IP Watchlist since 2009.

2. The “Hargreaves Review of IP and Growth” was published in May 2010 and makes a range of recommendations to update copyright exceptions, licensing and enforcement. Following the Government’s endorsement of the review’s recommendation implementation has commenced. Richard Hooper is currently in the second phase of his feasibility study for a Digital Copyright Exchange, one of Prof Hargreaves’ recommendations. The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) consulted on a small claims track for IP disputes, as recommended by Prof Hargreaves, and the small claims track will be implemented later this year. Late last year the IPO also launched a consultation into implementing Prof Hargreaves’ remaining recommendations on updating copyright exceptions and licensing.

3. Amongst others the following recommendations have been made to update copyright exceptions:

• Private copying: the only private copying exceptions provided for in UK copyright law are a “time-shifting” exception for broadcast, allowing the recording of TV and radio broadcast, and a back-up exception for software. The IPO is consulting on introducing a limited private copying exception to allow consumers to copy for their own use the products they have paid for. Private copying would include so called “format-shifting”.
  
  
• Parody: the IPO is consulting on introducing a parody exception, which would parts of copyright protected works to be used for parodies. UK copyright law does not currently provide such an exception and those using parts of copyright protected works face legal action for copyright infringement.
  
  
• Archiving: UK copyright law provides for an archiving exception, allowing cultural institutions to make preservation copies. But this exception only covers a “literary, dramatic or musical work”, excluding film, recorded music, broadcast and “artistic works” such as photos. The IPO is consulting on extending the archiving exception to all types of copyright protected works.
  
  
• Research: UK copyright law provides for a non-commercial research and private study exception. However, this exception only covers a “literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work”, excluding films, sound recording and broadcast and excluding artistic works in the case of library and archive copying to assist researchers. The IPO is consulting on extending the research exception to other types of work.

4. Under current UK copyright law it is illegal for consumers to format-shift copyrighted   music, films, e-books etc they have purchased, eg it is also illegal to format-shift a Kindle e-book into other e-book reader formats. Once implemented the Hargreaves recommendations will end this legal anomaly.

5. Consumer Focus previously published a literature review of the existing economic evidence on fair use rights. The review found that there is no existing evidence to support the argument that activities such as format-shifting, where consumers copy their CDs onto an iPod or computer, causes copyright owners to lose money.