3rd Aug 2011

Government acceptance of Hargreaves report

In a press conference, hosted at the British Library, the government has announced its acceptance of the findings of the Hargreaves report and has released its plans to revise intellectual property legislation.

The proposed changes are intended to update the law in line with the modern digital age, removing unnecessary restrictions, provide additional support for creative individuals and is estimated to provide a potential benefit to the UK economy of between £5-8 billion.

The accepted proposals include:

  • Fair dealing exceptions to be updated in line with EU law, principally:
    • To permit format shifting.
    • To permit performing artists to parody someone else’s work.
    • To allow researchers to use text and data mining techniques.
  • Introduction of a digital market place where licences in copyright content can be bought and sold.
  • To provide licensing and clearance procedures for works with unknown copyright owners.

Full documents can be accessed via the IPO website via the following links: