[drn-discuss] Chancellor announces independent review of IP

Fri Dec 2 16:44:48 GMT 2005

(Apologies for cross posting - link
http://drn.okfn.org/node/85)

At the Enterprise Conference on 2 December 2005, the
Chancellor announced that, as part of the Pre-Budget
Report 2005 package, he was asking former Financial
Times editor Andrew Gowers to lead an Independent
Review to examine the UK’s intellectual property
framework, reporting to the Chancellor, the Secretary
of State for Trade and Industry and the Secretary of
State for Culture, Media and Sport in Autumn 2006.

Scope
The review will provide an analysis of the performance
of the UK IP system, including inter alia,

the way in which Government administers the awarding
of IP and their support to consumers and business;

how well businesses are able to negotiate the
complexity and expense of the copyright and patent
system, including copyright and patent licensing
arrangements, litigation and enforcement;

and whether the current technical and legal IP
infringement framework reflects the digital
environment, and whether provisions for ‘fair use’ by
citizens are reasonable.

The Government has previously committed to examining
whether the current term of copyright protection on
sound recordings and performers’ rights is
appropriate. This will also be conducted within the review.

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