Tougher penalties for online Copyright Infringement proposed as part of Digital Britain package

Following the publication of the Digital Britain Report yesterday, the Intellectual Property Office has outlined proposals to improve copyright licensing and increase financial penalties for online infringers.

They include:

• Legislative changes to license orphan works. Legislation will effectively deal with this issue in order to remove the infringement risk that currently prevents collecting societies licensing orphan works (arising as they do not have a mandate from the rights holder.)This will benefit cultural organisations by allowing them access to currently unusable material. It will also enable public access to a great number of historical works that are currently locked up.
• New powers for government to authorise collecting societies to set up extended licensing schemes. This will allow certain collecting societies to act for a group of rights holders even if they are not all members of the society, unless a specific rights holder has opted out of the scheme.
• Underpinning the operation of collecting societies. As collecting societies reach out to new groups of customers, we need to underpin their operations with a statutory backed framework.
• Consultation on improving operations of collecting societies. Government would not make recommendations to utilise the above powers without formal public consultation with stakeholders and other interested parties.
• Matched penalties for online and physical IP infringement. This proposal will introduce a statutory maximum penalty of £50,000 for all IP offences.

Commenting on new proposals, David Lammy, Minister of State for Intellectual Property said: "We must have the tools in place to tackle serious and organised IP crime. The proposed £50,000 maximum penalty for online and physical infringement sends a clear message to IP criminals. In this online age, IP infringement warrants a serious response. It needs to be stamped out- regardless of whether the offence is online or offline."

He added "In order to modernise and streamline the existing copyright system, I’m proposing a number of changes to the way collecting societies can operate.

I want to see greater development to ensure that our orphan works such as those great cultural works amassed in the BBC and the British Library are accessible to those who wish to benefit from them.

"We should underpin the operation of collecting societies so that customers receive similar services and safeguards they would expect when dealing with a quality utility company."

Notes to editors

• The Intellectual Property Office is within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and is responsible for the national framework of Intellectual Property rights, comprising patents, designs, trade marks and copyright.
• Its role is to help manage an IP system that encourages innovation and creativity, balances the needs of consumers and users, promotes strong and competitive markets and is the foundation of the knowledge based economy.
• It operates in a national and an international environment and its work is governed by national and international law, including various international treaties relating to IP to which the United Kingdom is a party.
• For enquiries about the Intellectual Property Office press or media activities please contact James Thomson on +44 (0) 207 596 6547 or Katie Phillips +44 (0) 1633 814 326

Date of release: 17 June 2009