Tech community calls for IP reform
In the report, Professor Hargreaves states “Laws designed more than three centuries ago with the express purpose of creating economic incentives for innovation by protecting creators’ rights are today obstructing innovation and economic growth.”
The companies within the Silicon Roundabout Tech community believe that the recommendations laid out in the report would help correct that imbalance, with the open letter highlighting that the recommendations received strong support at the recent e-G8 meeting held in Paris, where they were cited as best practice for copyright law in the digital age.
The letter identifies some recommendations that the group says could be easily implemented by Act of Parliament or statutory instrument, such as adopting exceptions to copyright for format-shifting, parody, non-commercial research and library archiving. It also calls for a law to give the Intellectual Property Office the power to issue statutory opinions to help clarify copyright law and take other measures to help ensure that Britain’s IP system remains focused on promoting innovation and growth.
Other, more complex measures will require EU involvement or non-legislative measures, such as promoting at EU level copyright exceptions for text and data analytics, and supporting moves by the European Commission for establishing a cross-border copyright licensing framework.
The open letter then calls for the UK Government to put the straightforward recommendations of a fast track and ensure that they become part of law by the end of the 2011-2012 parliamentary session, while working diligently at EU level and the relevant stakeholders to make the complex recommendations a reality in the shortest timeframe possible.
Headed by the Coalition for a Digital Economy, more information can be found at www.coadec.com
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