UK Government launches public consultation on regulation of licensing bodies

Lovely friends, mouth-watering food and 
a 4-hour discussion on licensing bodies and 
UK Government consultation = THE perfect night

Are licensing bodies your favourite topic of conversation, even at social gatherings or dinner parties? Do you care about the way they operate and how this can be improved? 

Great: here's your chance to have your say!

You will remember that, back in 2011 the Hargreaves Review in the UK recommended that collecting societies "should be required by law to adopt codes of practice, approved by the IPO and the UK competition authorities, to ensure that they operate in a way that is consistent with the further development of efficient, open markets”. 

UK Government accepted this recommendation and, following a public consultation, in July 2012 it published a policy statement, in which it clarified its intention to bring forward legislation to regulate collecting societies.

The Government's policy intention was to strengthen confidence in the operation of collecting societies. To do this, it took a power in the recently adopted Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act that requires collecting societies to self-regulate in the first instance. The power also allows the Government to make secondary legislation to correct and, where warranted, penalise failures in self-regulation. 

Today the the Government has launched a consultation on draft secondary legislation that will be known as The Copyright (Regulation of relevant licensing bodies) Regulations 2014 and will serve to remedy gaps in self-regulation by collecting societies. 

You have time until 7 October 2013 to submit "substantive comments" on the legal effectiveness of the Regulations (only these, as the policy itself is out of the scope of the consultation). Do let the IPO know what you think by filling out the relevant form.