[DMCA-Activists] UK Chancellor Announces Independent Review of Exclusive Rights Policies

[Seth Johnson]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [A2k] Chancellor announces independent review of IP
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 16:44:48 +0000 (GMT)
From: Gavin Hill <address@hidden>
To: address@hidden, address@hidden

(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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