Fast-track Hargreaves recommendations says digital agenda coalition

The government has been urged to act quickly on the recommendations by Professor Ian Hargreaves for changes in intellectual property law.

The Coalition for the Digital Economy calls on the government to fast-track five of Hargreaves’ recommendations:

. Adopting exceptions to copyright for format-shifting, parody, non-commercial research and library archiving

.  Prohibiting copyright exceptions from being overridden by contract

.  Enabling licensing of orphan works

. Giving the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) the power to issue statutory opinions to help clarify copyright law and take other measures to help ensure that Britain’s IP system remains focused on promoting innovation and growth

.  Causing the IPO to improve the accessibility of the IP system to smaller companies.

The Coalition asks that these be put into law by the end of this year. Failing that by the end of next year.

Four more of Hargreaves’ recommendations should be pursued through the government’s machinery for dealing with the EU. These are:

.  Promoting at EU level copyright exceptions for text and data analytics

.  Promoting the inclusion in the EU framework of a mechanism for adapting copyright exceptions to new technologies as they arise

.  Supporting moves by the EC for establishing a cross-border copyright licensing framework

.  Facilitating the creation of a comprehensive “Digital Copyright Exchange” through which works can be licensed in a transparent and simple manner.