The Government’s uncomfortable relationship with Copyright

The report released this week by the All Party IP Group in parliament probably made for uncomfortable reading in some quarters of Whitehall.   It cast a light on the role of Government in protecting and promoting IP - and had some harsh words for the Intellectual Property Office (IPO).

The group of MPs, led by John Whittingdale the influential Chairman of the DCMS select committee, suggests the IPO has lost the confidence of a significant number of its stakeholders and outlines a number of recommendations necessary to restoring trust:

1. The IP Minister should take on the role of being a champion of IP, supported by a small
team in the IPO, or within BIS
2. The IPO should revert to seeing IP as a property right
3. The Government should be as concerned to promote the creation of new IP, as how
existing IP is accessed
4. Ministers in BIS and their senior officials need to have greater oversight of the IPO
5. The IPO’s oversight of copyright policy should be moved to DCMS
6. Senior officials and Ministers at BIS should take a greater role in ensuring other
Government departments consult them when developing policies affecting IP

Here at the NLA we welcome many of these recommendations – especially the emphasis on the ‘P’ in IP as a property right. We certainly share the concern of other rights holders at the tone and direction of the IPO consultation published back in December 2011.  This consultation, Implementing the Hargreaves review, and accompanying impact assessment were widely thought to be ill judged – and based on little in the way of unbiased evidence.

The existing system of copyright licensing provides a fair and accessible means to acquire rights and collecting societies are constantly innovating to address the challenges brought by the digital age.  Within the realm of newspaper copyright the NLA has developed, and will continue to develop, a suite of licences and database services to meet the developments and changes in its marketplace.

We are keen to work with Government and stakeholders to ensure the right balance is struck between protecting the creators and end users. 

Things do seem to be moving in the right direction.  The IPO has been undertaking some useful research such as this report; which shows the true value of copyright to UK plc is far higher than original estimates!

David Pugh

Managing Director, NLA