Issues papers responses

The Issues Paper (485Kb) was published in December 2008. The paper was published to help start a debate on the future direction of copyright strategy. It identified four preliminary areas for discussion but recognised that other issues might also arise. The four areas were:

• Access to works: ensuring that the current system is not overly complex, particularly in relation to the licensing of rights, rights clearance and copyright exceptions and that the legal enforcement framework is fit for the digital age;
• Incentivising investment and creativity: ensuring the current copyright system provides the right incentives to sustain investment and support creativity and that those who gain value from content are paying for it;
• Recognising creative input: achieving the right balance between commercial certainty and the rights of creators and creative artist; and
• Authenticating works: addressing issues related to authentication and seeing whether there is a case for differentiation between the rights of creative artists and other rights holders.

We received over 140 responses to the Issues Paper and the non-confidential responses have now been published. The responses we received were from a wide range of groups including commercial rights holders, creators, users and intermediaries. A number of responses were recieved from the general public.

A wide range of issues have been raised by respondents. Some chose to focus on specific issues such as the current negotiations in Europe on term extension for sound recordings or of their personal experience of operating the copyright system. Others spoke more broadly, for example of the need to deliver a greater level of protection for creator rights or for greater action on enforcement.

Some respondents were reluctant to see further changes, and considered that the existing regime was sufficiently flexible to fully meet any challenges presented by the digital age. Others felt that there was a need to look again at the operation of the system, and that currently nobody was really winning.