MPs: Copyright arbitration 'out of date'
Copyright breaches are arbitrated by the copyright tribunal
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Thursday, 20, Mar 2008 09:30
Britain's tribunal for resolving copyright issues needs urgent reform, MPs say.
A report published today by the Commons' industry, universities, science and skills committee calls for "urgent reform" of the copyright tribunal, the body which rules on licensing arrangements in the UK.
It expresses surprise that the tribunal – currently headed by an unpaid judge working in his spare time and staffed by just four people in total – "functions as well as it does".
"We have now reached the point where reform is long overdue and needs to be made expeditiously to meet the challenge of digital technology," it concludes.
"Given the increasing importance of intellectual property in the economy and the new challenges stacking up in this area, it is essential that serious attention be now paid to this rather neglected area of policy."
The copyright tribunal arbitrates disputes between those using copyrighted material and the owners and their agents who possess the copyright.
Many small firms and individuals who believe their copyright may have been infringed cannot afford the costs of bringing a case to the tribunal.
Today's report says a more affordable alternative is needed "as a matter of urgency" and blames successive governments for not responding to the need for changes which became clear as early as the 1980s.
"The copyright tribunal has not moved with the times," the committee's chairman Ian Gibson said.
"The government has shown that it has woken up to the increasing importance of intellectual property to the economy. It now needs to ensure that the copyright tribunal is organised to deal with this challenge in the digital age."