Hargreaves implementation: Copyright

Progress - latest news

June 2013

• Draft legislation to modernise copyright exceptions published for technical review..
  
  In "Modernising Copyright" we made a commitment that we would give everyone an opportunity to comment on the detail of the draft legislation implementing changes to copyright exceptions.
  
  The first batch of drafts have now been published for review and include the exceptions for private copying, parody, quotation and public administration. Drafts for the other exceptions will be released as soon as they are ready.
  
  You are invited to submit any written comments as soon as you are able. The closing date for written comments on the first four exceptions is 17 July 2013.

May 2013

• The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 -Your photos and you
  
  This note sets out how the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 will affect photographers. Although it is now law, it will only have an impact once rules for orphan works and extended collective licensing schemes have been developed, fully consulted on and approved by Parliament, which will not happen before 2014.
  
  There have been several reports and commentaries in the media incorrectly claiming that new Orphan Works provisions in the ERR Act will remove the automatic right to copyright for owners of photos posted online. In fact:
  
  1. The powers will not remove copyright for photographs or any other works subject to copyright.
  2. They will not allow anyone to use a copyright work without permission and free of charge.
  
  A licence will be needed to use a work as an "orphan". This requires an applicant to undertake a diligent search for the copyright holder, which the Government appointed independent authorising body will have to verify, and then pay a fair price for the licence.
  
  The Act itself contains a number of protections for photographers and other creators, described in the document below. In addition, the detailed rules are being developed with representatives of the photography sectors and other stakeholders. You will also have the opportunity to have your say on the draft Rules in a public consultation.
  
  The facts on some of the more common misunderstandings of the Act have been put together in a myth and fact information document (29Kb).

December 2012

• Changes to create greater freedom to use copyright works
  
  On Thursday 20 December 2012, the Government published the final part of its response to its Copyright Consultation: "Modernising Copyright: a modern, robust and flexible framework (664Kb)".
  
  The response sets out Government decisions on changes to the framework for 'copyright exceptions'. These changes will introduce greater freedoms in copyright law to allow third parties to use copyright works for a variety of economically and/or socially valuable purposes without the need to seek permission from copyright owners. Protections for the interests of copyright owners and creators are built in to the revised framework.
  
  The Government is committed to achieving strong, sustainable and balanced growth that is shared across the country and between industries. These changes will be good both for creators and users of copyright works.
  
  Government will bring forward secondary legislation to introduce these changes in 2013. Prior to this, the Government will publish the draft regulations for technical review.
  
  Impact assessments associated with this document are available on the professional side of our website.

October 2012

• Minimum standards for UK collecting societies
  
  The Government has today published the minimum standards (360Kb) which underpin the self-regulatory framework for collecting societies. The minimum standards, which cover fairness, transparency, and good governance, are intended to form the basis of collecting societies’ individual codes of practice. An initial review of these codes will be undertaken by an independent code reviewer in November 2013, one year after launch.
  
  The minimum standards have been developed in conjunction with collecting societies and users as part of the Government’s consultation on copyright reforms. They are intended to be a living document and will evolve to take account of market developments.
  
  The Government is currently taking legislation through Parliament that includes provision for a backstop power that will require a collecting society to adopt a code of practice if its self-regulatory code fails. The consultation on codes of practice concluded that one year was a sufficient period of time for collecting societies to put in place codes that comply with these minimum standards.

July 2012

• Digital Copyright Exchange feasibility study
  
  Today, 31 July 2012, Richard Hooper published Copyright works: streamlining copyright licensing for the digital age - Phase 2 report (1.28Mb) on the Digital Copyright Exchange.
  
  
• Publication of responses to Copyright Consultation
  
  Today, Thursday 26 July 2012, the Government published the responses it received during its consultation on Copyright. The Government received 471 responses from interested parties.
  
  The submitted responses, with the exception of confidential submissions, are listed in alphabetical order by surname or company/organisation name.
  
  The Government had initially planned to publish the full set of responses alongside its summary (440Kb) published on 14 June 2012. However, in the course of reviewing the responses received, it became clear that a small number of respondents had advanced criticisms or inappropriately criticised the activities of others in the sector. The Government has now carefully reviewed the submissions to establish any potentially defamatory material and has redacted any inappropriate or defamatory comments. Signatures or personal telephone numbers and email addresses have also been redacted for information security purposes.
  
  Thirteen (13) organisations submitted after the consultation closed, and their late submissions are also available in the Intellectual Property Office website.
  
  
• Government Policy Statement: Consultation on modernising copyright
  
  Today, 2 July 2012, the Government published a policy statement on modernising copyright licensing (406Kb) in light of the recent consultation. The Government also published updated impact assessments on each of the three proposals in the policy statement.
  
  The Government intends to legislate as soon as possible to:
  
   - allow schemes to be introduced for the commercial and non-commercial use of ‘orphan’ copyright works and voluntary extended collective licensing of copyright works, subject to a number of important safeguards, and
  
   - to create a backstop power to require collecting societies to adopt codes of conduct based on minimum standards.
  
  It also sets out the broad parameters that the Government intends to set for these schemes.
  
  The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill currently going through Parliament, provides such an opportunity and the Government plans to lay amendments to introduce these measures in the Committee Stage of the Bill. Once the necessary legislation is in place, there will be further consideration of the details of all these measures, generally through consultation, before the final schemes are laid before Parliament for approval.
  
  On a separate issue not covered by the policy statement, the Government will take a power in the Bill to implement into UK law EU Directive 2011/77/EU on the term of protection for sound recordings, which was agreed in Brussels in late 2011.
  
  The Government has welcomed the views of the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee on this area of work, and is considering its recommendations.
  
  Policy decisions on other issues covered by the consultation - including the Government’s plans to modernise copyright through changes to the UK’s copyright exceptions and the proposed copyright notices scheme - will be set out in a subsequent document later this year. Announcements on other work undertaken in response to the Hargreaves Review will be made separately.

June 2012

• Consultation on Copyright: Summary of responses published
  
  Today, Thursday 14 June 2012, the Government published a summary of responses (440Kb) received during its consultation on Copyright. The Government received 471 responses from interested parties.
  
  This document is a summary of what respondents to the Consultation have said on each of the proposals. It is purely a factual document, and does not contain any policy decisions or announcements.
  
  Decisions as a result of the consultation will be announced as soon as possible.
  
  The Government had planned to publish the full set of responses alongside its summary. However, in the course of reviewing the responses received, it has become clear that a number of respondents have advanced criticisms of the activities of others in the sector, and the Government is reviewing the submissions to establish there is no potentially defamatory material in anything it may publish. Once these issues are resolved the Government will publish as many responses as it is able to do without the risk of legal recourse.
  
  The Government would like to thank all those who took the time to contribute to the Consultation.

March 2012

• Digital Copyright Exchange feasibility study
  
  Today, 27 March 2012, Richard Hooper published Rights and Wrongs: is copyright licensing fit for purpose for the digital age? - Phase 1 report (954Kb) on the Digital Copyright Exchange.

• Copyright Consultation closes
  
  The consultation on copyright closed on 21 March 2012. The Government will publish an analysis of responses within 3 months of this date.

February 2012

• Notes of Copyright Consultation Events published
  
  If you would like an update on what's been going on at our events we have now started to publish readouts of the meetings.

January 2012

• Digital Copyright Exchange feasibility study
  
  The Digital Copyright Exchange (DCE) feasibility study will consider options for developing a functional digital market in rights clearance and a source of information about rights ownership, as recommended by the Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property and Growth and accepted by the Government.

December 2011

• Copyright consultation
  
  Today, 14 December 2011, Baroness Wilcox, the Minister for Intellectual Property, launched a Government consultation seeking views on the Government’s proposals for implementing a number of the recommendations, relating to Copyright, it accepted in its response to the Hargreaves Review of IP and Growth.
  
  For further information, please read the press release issued on 14 December.

November 2011

• Richard Hooper to lead Digital Copyright Exchange feasibility study
  
  Business Secretary Vince Cable announces the appointment of Richard Hooper to lead a feasibility study on developing a Digital Copyright Exchange in the UK.
  
  Read more about Richard's appointment.