The Copyright Tribunal is an independent body established under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 to settle various types of disputes, mainly in the field of collective copyright licensing.
Hearings3 hearings were held in 2001. There were 2 one day hearings. One was a hearing dealing with outstanding matters following a case which had been on appeal, and a decision was issued. A one day hearing was held in a second case, but the parties finally settled before the Tribunal issued its decision. A 7 day hearing covering 5 applications from Universities UK took place in September. All the applications related to terms and conditions in photocopying licences from the Copyright Licensing Agency. An interim decision was issued in December. The decision was published on the Tribunal's webpage's, the first time a decision has been published in this way.
ApplicationsOnly 2 new applications were received in 2001, the lowest figure for 8 years. One was the fifth application from Universities UK. The other was served during the Universities UK -v- Copyright Licensing Agency hearing and was from a single university.
4 cases came off the Tribunal's list during the year. 1 case was withdrawn following settlement by the parties prior to a Court of Appeal hearing. 2 other cases were also withdrawn. In the fourth case, a Consent Order was issued following the withdrawal of an appeal to the High Court.
At the end of the year, there were 23 cases pending.