Proposed Copyright Tribunal Rules -- again

An earlier post on The 1709 Blog ("Copyright Tribunal to be made more user-friendly", here) reported that the UK's Intellectual Property Office is conducting a review of the Copyright Tribunal rules. This review takes account of the recommendations of the Innovation, Universities and Skills Select Committee in the March 2008 report on the work and operation of the Copyright Tribunal and stakeholder comments received in that context. 

I was frustrated at not being able to work out where on the IPO website the proposed rules were hiding, since there was no link to them in the text of the press release. However, IPO Communications and Media Manager James Thomson has gallantly come to the rescue with this link -- which was actually there all the time, in a little panel on the right of the page.  Many thanks, James, for putting the record straight. 

Copyright Tribunal to be made more user-friendly

The UK's Intellectual Property Office has now added a review of Copyright Tribunal rules to its growing list of ongoing reviews of the functionality of the country's IP infrastructure. According to a press release from the IPO on 9 April,

"The Intellectual Property Office today announced a review of the Copyright Tribunal rules which will make the Tribunal quicker and cheaper to use, particularly for individuals and small businesses. The consultation includes the following key proposals:

• Streamlining of cases for large-scale litigation in order to reduce costs for parties;

• Introduction of a small applications fast track system for cases of low financial value in order to improve accessibility for small business and individuals;

• Modernisation of the rules, in particular by incorporating case management techniques from the Civil Procedure Rules.

...

The draft proposals are available on the Intellectual Property Office website [If they are, why on earth didn't the press release, which is posted on the IPO website, carry a hyperlink to them? 10 clicks after the press release, this blogger still hadn't found them]. They take into account the recommendations of the Innovation, Universities and Skills Select Committee in the March 2008 report on the work and operation of the Copyright Tribunal and stakeholder comments received in that context. The proposals form part of a wider package of reforms of the Tribunal".

The 1709 Copyright blog will follow developments and bring them to the attention of readers. Perhaps there may even be some debate ...