Copyright Law Change ?
The independent Hargreaves review is scheduled for release next week and may herald some major changes to copyright law, an increasingly important area in the ever changing digital era. The review was instigated due to concerns that Britain’s copyright laws are no longer adequate in the new era and one key question is whether the review will advocate US-style “fair use” provision, which would allow use of limited amounts of other people’s content without needing permission. This is a contentious point with powerful content content providers in music and film who are against such a copyright law change.
In addition to dealing with possible changes to copyright law, it is believed and hoped that the review will encompass a wider consideration of IP law, especially as it affects small and medium business. The law is very complex and fragmented at the moment and yet few businesses can avoid intellectual property and IP legal issues and rights issues, so any simplification, streamlining and modernisation of the law is most welcome.
We will update again once the Hargreaves Report is published.