[okfn-discuss] UK copyright - improving access to orphaned works, new exceptions such as legal format shifting

Wed Aug 3 21:35:25 UTC 2011

The UK government has responded to Prof Ian Hargreaves' review of
intellectual property. From Ars Technica:

"The British government today pledged (PDF) to enact significant
changes to copyright law, including orphan works reforms and the
introduction of new copyright exceptions. And the tone of the comments
was surprising: the government agrees that "copyright currently
over-regulates to the detriment of the UK." CD (and perhaps DVD)
ripping for personal use should become legal at last—and the
government is even keen to see that the consumer rights granted by law
can't simply be taken away by contract (such as a "EULA" sticker on a
CD demanding that a disk not be ripped)."

Article: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/08/the-british-government-has-endorsed.ars
Hargreaves' study: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ipreview-finalreport.pdf
IP Office's response: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ipresponse-full.pdf