Digital Britain Archives

UK moving ahead with graduated response after Hargreaves Review of IP

Last week, the UK government confirmed its intention to implement the graduated response process set out in the UK Digital Economy Act 2010 (DEA). Several documents released along with the response to Professor Hargreaves’ Review of Intellectual Property and Growth summarized the UK process and compared it with the graduated response processes enacted in France and New Zealand. See, Draft-Sharing-of-Costs statutory-instrument, Impact Assessment for the Sharing of Costs Statutory Instrument, and Digital Economy Act Appeals Process: Options for reducing costs.…

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UK proposals to modernize UK Copyright Act released

The UK Government outlined plans earlier today to support economic growth by modernising the UK’s intellectual property laws. The Government accepted a number of recommendations made by Professor Ian Hargreaves in his report, Digital Opportunity: A review of intellectual property and growth in its response to Professor Hargreaves’ Review of Intellectual Property and Growth. The Government’s response can be found online at www.ipo.gov.uk/ipresponse.

The UK Government also simultaneously published a series of other reports including: Next steps for implementation of the Digital Economy Act, “Site blocking” to reduce online copyright infringement, Draft-Sharing-of-Costs statutory-instrument, Impact Assessment for the Sharing of Costs Statutory Instrument, Digital Economy Act Appeals Process: Options for reducing costs, International Strategy, and IP Crime Strategy.…

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Where is Canada’s plan for the digital age?

Earlier this week, MP Marc Garneau published an op-ed in the National Post asking “Where is Canada’s plan for the digital age?” A good question.

He pointed out that “a renewed vision is required for a digital economy”, that the “digital economy will be a defining part of our economy”, that technology “is changing our world” and that we must “evolve if we hope to prosper”.

Mr. Garneau is clearly right. Technology is changing our world and we either have to adapt or suffer the consequences.…

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Challenges for Digital Britain: broadband access, copyright and business models

Last week, the UK Minister for Digital Britain, Stephen Timms, gave a speech outlining the main challenges ahead for the government in moving forward with its Digital Britain initiative. He focused on three challenges, broadband; copyright; and new business models.

With respect to broadband, he outlined that the government had two major broadband projects: a commitment that every home in the country should be able to obtain a 2 Mbit/s broadband service – and so be able to use the applications which most people are using broadband for today; and a next-generation fund to support national scale investment in much higher speed services.…

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Graduated response and copyright: an idea that is right for the times

This is a copy of an article published in The Lawyers Weekly (January 2010) by Barry Sookman and Dan Glover.

In mid-2009, the Canadian government launched a nationwide consultation meant to canvass what amendments to the Copyright Act are necessary to support Canada’s participation in the global, digital economy, and to foster innovation, creativity, competition and investment.

There is no doubt that our copyright laws need amending. Amendments are required on a number of fronts. New exceptions are required to meet legitimate user expectations to access and use copyright content without infringement.…

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UK launches consultations on copyright exceptions

The UK continues to move forward to modernize its copyright legislation. Fresh from tabling its Digital Economy Bill to address online file sharing, the government now plans to tackle the need for expanded copyright exceptions. It has done so with specific proposals for reform in its consultation document, Taking forward the Gowers Review of IP: Second stage consultation on Copyright Exceptions.

The UK consultation proposal is very relevant for Canadians given the consultation and reform process we are engaged in.…

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Graduated Response Mapped out in UK Digital Economy Bill

The UK government continues to speed ahead with modernizing its copyright legislation to bring the UK into the 21st century. The latest development is the introduction the UK Digital Economy Bill.

Earlier this month the government published © the way ahead: A Copyright Strategy for the Digital Age. The report focused on the need to keep copyright consistent with public expectations and explored the desirability of making access to and use of works easier for consumers. It also recommended making orphan works easier to access and suggested extended collective licensing as a means of facilitating making works available to the public.…

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© the way ahead: A Copyright Strategy for the Digital Age

The UK Government continues to explore how to adjust its copyright framework to keep up with technology and consumer behavior. In its latest publication, © the way ahead: A Copyright Strategy for the Digital Age, the UK Government looks at how copyright can tackle the challenges of the digital age, drawing on previous work including Digital Britain and the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property, on international perspectives including the European Commission’s and on discussions and submissions from stakeholders.

Much like the Canadian Government, the UK Government wants a copyright system “that works as well as it can for everyone in the UK, supporting investment and sustaining jobs, as well as underpinning our cultural life, and supporting consumers to get the best from the digital age.”…

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Lord Mandelson speech transcript on P2P copyright and creative industries

I recommend you read the speech by Lord Mandelson to the c&binet forum, 28 October 2009. http://bit.ly/1vmHXm

He makes some observations relevant to Canadian copyright reform about the importance of the creative industries and the need to create a proper legal framework to ensure they thrive. He also explains that the graduated response regime the UK is implementing is a carefully nuanced and procedurally fair process.

Why the creative industries matter

“I’m a big defender of an economy based on making things, which is why I often speak about manufacturing.…

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Copyright Reform in Canada-Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Woodrow Copyright Final

For more information about the Copyright Modernization Act or Bill C-11 or copyright reform, see Change and the Copyright Modernization Act.

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