Digital copying

On Wednesday, Vince Cable, the UK Business Secretary announced intentions to update what he called "archaic" British copyright laws.

"We now live in a digital age – but our laws and business practices are still very much stuck in the analog era," he said at an event at the British Library.

Secretary Cable estimated that the measures will bring in the equivalent of 7.9 billion pounds (9 billion euros) to the British economy, and said it would legalize what millions of people already do with music they've bought.

The government based its proposed changes on recommendations from a 2010 review supported by an independent advisory panel and headed by Ian Hargreaves, a professor at Cardiff University in Wales.

Committing crime, unawares

Cable said the "common sense" measures would allow regular people who buy a CD or DVD to download it onto their personal computer or portable media player – a practice that is still illegal in the United Kingdom.

Peter Bradwell, a campaigner at Open Rights Group – which aims to raise awareness on digital rights and civil liberties – says British people may have been breaking the law for years without knowing it.

A lot of people are surprised, he noted, when they find out that something as simple as transferring audio from vinyl onto their computer, or ripping CDs onto an iPod, is technically illegal.

The new format-shifting rules "should really make the law match what most consumers are already doing – which is trying to find the right device and listen to music in the way they want," Bradwell told Deutsche Welle.

The new framework would also allow people to parody film and music content. Under current rules, parody artists technically must obtain the original artist's consent for it to be legal.

Many European Union countries already allow format-shifting of legally purchased audiovisual material - an EU directive allows private copying if copyright holders are granted "fair compensation."

In some countries, this is accomplished through a levy on digital copying equipment, devices and media, like blank CDs. Those fees collected are paid to property rights organizations, which then disburse them to copyright holders.

Stemming piracy

Companies in the creative industry generally welcomed the proposals, although concerns over copyright persist.

Lavinia Carey, the head of the British Video Association said implementing the recommendations "without thorough consideration" could damage Britain's audiovisual industry, although she praised the openness of the policy process, and added that she thinks any damage would be unintentional.

In a statement, Carey spoke out against "a blanket implementation of some of the general recommendations," indicating that more evidence was necessary to assure that the measures would indeed stimulate the creative sector.

Movie and music lobbies, record labels, film companies and video game creators have been trying for years to stop piracy – and they've largely failed.

Website blocking dropped

In a related move, the UK's ruling coalition also decided to scrap earlier proposals to block websites that host copyright-infringing material.

This decision came under fire by UK Music, which represents musicians and record labels in the UK.

In another statement Feargal Sharkey, UK Music's CEO lambasted "rogue sites that operate with impunity and without licenses," because they block growth of a legal creative market.

But Peter Bradwell, of the Open Rights Group says the decision not to block websites is the correct one.

He called such a practice "both pointless and dangerous," because it's not likely to increase revenues for the creative industry.

Author: Olly Barratt / Sonya Angelica Diehn
Editor: Cyrus Farivar