WIKIGowers review on intellectual property
At the Enterprise Conference on 2 December 2005, the Chancellor announced that, as part of the Pre-Budget Report 2005 package, he was asking Andrew Gowers to lead an Independent Review to examine the UK’s intellectual property framework, reporting to the Chancellor, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in Autumn 2006.
Terms of Reference
Objectives: The Labour Party manifesto included a commitment to "modernise copyright and other forms of intellectual property so that they are appropriate for the digital age".
The UK’s IP regime is a critical component of our present and future success in the global knowledge economy. It must provide the optimal incentives for private industry and individuals to innovate and invest to create value, whilst preventing excessive inefficiencies and monopoly costs which can reduce competition and impede incremental innovation.
The regime is particularly important as our economic competitiveness is increasingly driven by knowledge-based industries, especially in manufacturing, science-based sectors and the creative industries.
Whilst the Government believes the present UK system strikes broadly the right balance between consumers and rights-holders, the review will examine whether improvements could be made and, as appropriate, make targeted and practical policy recommendations.
gowers review intellectual property
Submissions
ORG
The Open Rights Group Gowers Review Submission
FFII UK
Gowers review submission by FFII UK
FFII UK is the UK volunteer group of the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure, a pan European organisation which seeks a positive environment for the development of information goods based on copyright, free competition and open standards. Representing 650 members, 3000 companies and 90,000 supporters.
Covers balancing rights and the burden of proof. Anti software patents. Warns of Community Patent and European Patent Litigation Agreement bringing in software patents. Concerns over IPRED2 and legal sanctions on IP infringement.
National Union of Journalists
Gowers review submission by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) HTML
The National Union of Journalists' has nearly 40,000 members, of which 8000 are self-employed writers and photographers.
Talks about copyright and authors' rights. Asks that clear distinction between the issues of copyright, patents and trademark be drawn with this Review and the wider public and policy debate. "Digital Rights Management" is a much-abused term. The attachment of information about rights to works is necessary in the digital environment. Technical means preventing access to works carry serious risks to, among other things, free reporting. The law, not technical measures, remains the correct framework for protection of authors' rights. The National Union of Journalists sees no need to change the term of copyright in its members' textual and photographic works. We are supportive of adjustments being made to resolve anomalies, for example to bring the term for various rights in musical works into line with that enjoyed by our members. Current "fair dealing" provisions in UK law strike a fair balance. No need to change the term of copyright. Talks about metadata as a solution for orphaned works and that a trust fund be established to hold token payments granting limited licences for use of works whose authors (or other rights-holders) are genuinely not contactable. Also covers levelling the playing field for authors in copyright negotiations.
Publishers Licensing Society
Gowers review submission by the Publishers Licensing Society (PLS) PDF
National Consumer Council
Gowers review submission by the National Consumer Council (NCC) PDF
http://www.out-law.com/page-6919 Just 19% of people are aware that they break the law in the UK by copying a CD to their computer or iPod, according to the National Consumer Council (NCC), which wants to see a "fair use" right inserted in the country's "absurd" copyright laws.
http://www.ipr-helpdesk.org/controlador/noticia?seccion=noticia&tipoListado=all&id=0000005926&len=en The NCC makes the following recommendations: the use of Digital Rights Management tools should be regulated; criminal sanctions for copyright infringement should be restricted only to organised crime; consumer rights should be incorporated into copyright law by amending the UK copyright law to cover all exceptions and exclusions allowed under EU law; terms of copyright protection should be reduced.
The Institution of Engineering and Technology
Gowers review submission by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IEE) PDF
The Copyright Licensing Agency
Gowers review submission by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd PDF
Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society
Gowers review submission by the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society Limited (ALCS) PDF
Professional Contractors Group
Gowers review submission by the Professional Contractors Group (PCG) PDF
Digital Curation Centre
Gowers review submission by the Digital Curation Centre (DCC) PDF
The Newspaper Society
Gowers review submission by the Newspaper Society PDF
Research Information Network
Gowers review submission by the Research Information Network (RIN) PDF
PACT
Gowers review submission by PACT PDF
Pact is the trade association representing the commercial interests of film, television, animation, distribution and interactive content companies across the UK. They have over 800 member companies.
Pact opposes term extension for copyright and performers' rights in sound recordings.
Hospital Broadcasting Association
Gowers review submission by the Hospital Broadcasting Association PDF
The Hospital Broadcasting Association asks in this submission for a special exemption on behalf of their members to be carved out of copyright law.
Research Information Network
Gowers review submission by the Research Information Network Word Doc
BPI
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/05/07/cnbpi07.xml The British music industry is to recommend to the Government that consumers be allowed to legally copy music without fear of prosecution
Association for University Research and Industry Links
Gowers review submission by the Association for University Research and Industry Links (AURIL) PDF
Digital Content Forum
Gowers review submission by the Digital Content Forum (DCF) PDF
Alliance Against IP Theft
Alliance Against IP Theft http://www.allianceagainstiptheft.co.uk/news/article.html?id=71 "In our submission to the Gowers review we also flagged up the need for a clear government champion for IP. If the Government is serious about promoting a knowledge economy there needs to be a Minister whose sole responsibility is the protection and promotion of intellectual property rights." said Alliance Director General Susie Winter
Libraries and Archives Copyright Alliance
Gowers review submission by the Libraries and Archives Copyright Alliance (LACA) PDF
Chartered Institute of Patent Agents
Gowers review submission by the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents (CIPA) PDF
UK Film Council
Gowers review submission by the UK Film Council Word DOC
The UK Film Council made a submission to the Gowers Review consultation which emphasised: the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as content creators in generating IP in the new online marketplace; the need to ensure easy access by the public to assets such as film archives; and the need to protect IP-led businesses from the threat of piracy.
Perodical Publishers Association
Gowers review submission by the Perodical Publishers Association (PPA) PDF
In its response, PPA welcomed the Government’s recognition that intellectual property is crucial for the success of knowledge-based industries such as publishing, with the response reflecting concerns on the way in which copyright applies to the work of the magazine sector.
Intellect
Gowers review submission by Intellect PDF
Intellect is the UK trade association for the IT, telecoms and electronics industries. Its members account for over 80 per cent of these markets and include blue-chip multinationals as well as early stage technology companies. These industries together generate around 10 per cent of UK GDP and 15 per cent of UK trade. For more information about Intellect go to http://www.intellectuk.org.
Computer & Communications Industry Association
Gowers review submission by the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) PDF
Equity
Gowers review submission by Equity HTML Equity is a trade union representing 40,000 performers and creative personnel who work across the whole spectrum of entertainment. This includes a range of media and creative industries covered by the scope of the Gowers Review, such as visual broadcasts, sound recordings and film.
DJ Licensing Working Party
Gowers review submission by the DJ Licensing Working Party (LWP) PDF
The DJ Licensing Working Party has been formed to represent the views of DJs from all over the UK on licensing matters. This subject is so fundamental to our profession that is has spawned previously unheard of collaboration between the three major Disc Jockey Associations and it has undertaken to represent all DJs’ views regardless of their affiliation to any or none of the member associations. Our web site www.djlicence.org.uk has been running for a while to gather the views of DJs and to inform them of our activities.
Much has been made in the press of the request by artists to increase the number of years for which musical works are protected by copyright. What hasn't escaped the LWP is Gowers request for submissions in additional copyright subject areas including 'fair-use' exceptions.
We believe we have encapsulated the hopes and needs of DJs in our submission which, after discussion with representatives of the Gowers Review team, is short and to the point. In fact it doesn't need to be anything else!
Wedlake Bell
Gowers review submission by Wedlake Bell PDF
Association of Online Publishers
Gowers review submission by the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) Word DOC
Publishers Association
Gowers review submission by the Publishers Association PDF
The Publishers Association (PA) is the leading trade organisation serving book,journal and electronic publishers in the UK. This area of British publishing has an estimated total turnover of £5.8 billion (contributing 0.5% of UK’s GDP).
British Academy
Gowers review submission by the British Academy HTML
Society for Computers and Law
Gowers review submission by the Society for Computers and Law (SCL) Word DOC
CBI
Gowers review submission by the CBI PDF
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9075-2170952,00.html In its formal submission to the five-month-old Gowers Review set up to examine patents, copyright and other intellectual property, the CBI said: "The UK Patent Office has a good record in consultation on policy issues under UK control."However, its record on consultation with UK stakeholders is less good when it is representing the UK position in international negotiations."
Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys
Gowers review submission by the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys PDF
CHARM
Gowers review submission by CHARM PDF
CHARM (the AHRC Research Centre for the History and Analysis for Recorded Music), a research consortium funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council for the five-year period 2004-2009, and comprising the Music Departments of King’s College London; Royal Holloway, University of London; and the University of Sheffield.
Asks for fair dealing, opposes extension of copyright term and spend the majority of their submission on it.
The Consumer Project on Technology
Gowers review submission by the Consumer Project on Technology (CPTech) PDF 11 pages
CPTech is a NGO, with offices in London, Geneva and Washington DC. Currently much of our work concerns intellectual property policy and practices, focusing on access to knowledge. CPTech also studies different approaches to the production of knowledge goods, including new business models that support creative individuals and communities. Full details can be found on our website www.CPTech.org. We are also a member of the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (www.tacd.org).
The patent system is only used in certain areas of the economy. Some types of inventive activity are not subject to patents, and some types of research and development do not benefit from patent protection. The patent system should be reviewed, as the outline paper makes clear, there are already concerns about the operation of the present system both in the UK and in the US.
Copyright: The on going expansion of copyright law, as well as the way exclusive rights in content are exercised, threatens access to knowledge in many ways. Uncritical expansions of copyright lead to the greater privatization of knowledge, and a shrinking of the public domain. Against extended the copyright terms.
DRM: Our concerns with the DRM systems are several, but at the core, it concerns the predictable and harmful impact of having private parties -- right-holders-- determine the default rules for access to knowledge goods. Registration of protected DRM systems. DRM must have features of the system to protect user rights.
Orphan works: Review to hold a public consultation on the US and EU proposals, and also to consider new ideas or ideas that were proposed by stakeholders but not yet adapted in the US debate.
Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers
Gowers review submission by the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP)
ALPSP is the international trade association for not-for-profit publishers (e.g. learned and professional societies, university presses, charities and foundations, intergovernmental organisations) and those who work with them to disseminate scholarly and professional information. 64% of our 341 members are based in the UK.
Open Access/self-archiving the provision of free online access for all to scholarly research articles, Mass digitisation Online access to content brings enormous benefits, Plagiarism and piracy the Internet makes it extremely easy to "cut and paste" someone else's content, Document supply, Copyright versus contract in the digital age There is a worrying trend away from the idea of "exceptions to copyright" and towards "rights of access to information", The role of collective licensing.
National Council on Archives
Gowers review submission by the National Council on Archives (NCA) PDF
The National Council on Archives would like to endorse the submissions by The National Archives, The Research Information Network and The British Library. In preparing our submission, we have endeavoured not to restate points made better by our colleagues in these organisations, but to complement them with observations from our wider remit representing both professionals and users.
Along with the British Library and other members of the NCA, we would be very keen to see a balanced (i.e. not exclusively rights holders focussed) programme of education and awareness surrounding the copyright provision and frameworks throughout the UK.
We suggest that some of the onus for identifying copyright owners should be allocated to those who claim to have such rights.
digital rights management and Technical Protection Measure have become a very serious problem, preventing legitimate copying of materials.
UK IP Academics
Gowers review submission by the UK IP Academics
We also agree that the intellectual property framework must balance innovation and competition. We would however stress that the public interest is a vital component in this equation.
Given the crucial nature of intellectual property to the knowledge based economy we believe that on-going reviews of the system should be conducted by an independent publicly funded body charged with commissioning independent research on the basis of which policy priorities can be formulated and incremental changes investigated.
AHRC Research Centre for Studies in Intellectual Property and Technology Law
Gowers review submission by the AHRC Research Centre
International Association of Music Libraries
Gowers review submission by the International Association of Music Libraries (IAML)
IAML(UK & Irl), the UK and Ireland Branch of the international organization (IAML), exists to represent and promote the interests of music librarians and libraries, music–related archives and music information providers throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. IAML membership, both individual and corporate, covers a wide range of institutions including public, academic and national libraries, professional orchestras, opera companies, broadcasting authorities and the music trade.
IAML(UK & Irl) is a member of LACA (the Libraries and Archives Copyright Alliance) and supports the views and detailed suggestions expressed in the LACA response and in submissions from other library organisations including The British Library.
Talks about copyright and some of the difficulties they have to handle on a day to day basis. Also states that the problem of using orphan works is a real barrier. Spends some time on term extension, they are against it. States DRM systems are physical barriers, especially for people with disabilities who have the right to receive information in accessible formats. Seeking removal of these barriers is time-consuming and out of proportion to much small-scale use. The need for printed music for performance is time-specific; if the required permission is not given in time then the performance has to be abandoned. Technical protection can, in effect, give perpetual protection, which goes against the public good. On the question of EU harmonisation states that despite the EC Directive, there is no real harmonisation of jurisdictions for individual countries. On Term extension states "the industry’s argument is that extension will allow them to invest in new talent. Many new and successful artists are, in fact, signed to independent companies or are self-published. Some are only signed by major record labels once they are popular and established."