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20 July 2015Copyright

UK private copying provision scrapped by High Court

The English High Court has scrapped a provision introduced by the government that would have enabled the public to make private copies of copyright protected material.

In a decision handed down on Friday, July 17, Judge Nicholas Green said it was clear that the exception to copyright should be quashed.

Last month the same judge ruled in favour of industry groups the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA), the Musicians’ Union, and UK Music after they challenged the exception, introduced by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) in October last year.

The change, one of several tweaks to the country’s Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, meant the scrapping of a provision that had made it illegal for purchasers of CDs to transfer their music onto laptops and MP3 players, known as ‘ripping’.

But the organisations argued that as the government failed to provide a compensation mechanism for right owners, the exception would be out of step with EU law.

All three bodies requested a judicial review in November last year.

The government will now need to re-draft the provision in order to ensure that right owners are compensated.

In a statement, Jo Dipple, chief executive of UK Music, said the organisation welcomed the court’s decision.

“It is vitally important that fairness for songwriters, composers and performers is written into the law. It is only right that the government gives us the standard of legislation our music deserves. We want to work with government so this can be achieved,” she added.

Georgie Collins, partner at law firm Irwin Mitchell, said: “On the one hand … right owners have always maintained that any changes to laws in which the creative industries are affected would result in harm.

“On the other hand the government has always maintained that the regulations were essentially closing a legal loophole; it is well-known that members of the public have been format-shifting since the days of cassette tape recorders, and legislation was needed to bring the legal position in line with the societal one.

“The music industry has said it is open to meaningful talks to resolve the issue; how much these talks will end up costing the government remains to be seen.”

A BIS spokesperson said: “The government is considering the implications of the court rulings and the available options.”

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22 June 2015   The English High Court has ordered a judicial review of the UK government’s change to copyright law that made it legal for people to make copies of copyright protected material.
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3 August 2015   WIPR readers have overwhelmingly backed the legalisation of private copying, despite a UK court quashing such a provision.