Consultation mania sweeps UK -- again

It's consultation time again in the United Kingdom, a jurisdiction which may not be able to put together a credible cricket team but which leads the world when it comes to "what should we do about copyright law?" consultations. First, there's the news that

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) provides copyright owners with a range of rights allowing them to control the use of their works and to seek payment for this use. Among these rights are rights to control the showing, playing and other communication of works to the public. This includes the showing of a film or broadcast to a public audience.

Section 72(1) sets out an exception to these rights. It allows organisations which do not charge for admission to show television programmes to the public without permission from the owners of film and broadcast copyright in those programmes. If an organisation wishes to show broadcasts that contain other copyright elements, for example any original literary, artistic, musical or dramatic works, as well as most commercially produced sound recordings, it still needs the permission of the relevant owners of those works.

Recent court cases have highlighted both legal and policy issues in relation to the provision set out in Section 72, which the proposals set out in this consultation seek to address.

The proposals set out in this consultation will be of particular interest to sports right holders, music right holders, broadcasters, and commercial premises which show television broadcasts to the public. The IPO invites those interested to provide their views. You can do this by [contacting us here].

There's also a proposal for changes in the penalties that may be inflicted upon those who commit online copyright infringements [discussed in greater detail by Andy here]. As the IPO explains

The proposed new measures will increase the sanctions for criminals who infringe the rights of copyright holders for large-scale financial gain and will make clear that online copyright infringement is no less serious than physical infringement.

To contribute your thoughts on the subject, just click here.