Digital opportunity
Digital Opportunity - A Review of Intellectual Property and Growth , also known as the Hargreaves Report or Hargreaves Review , is the title of a report by an independent commission headed by media scholar Ian Hargreaves on the state of copyright and patent law in the UK . The commission commissioned by David Cameron is proposing major changes to copyright law , such as the expansion of private copying , better utilization of orphan works and an extension of the limits of copyright law to data and text analysis.
The 130-page report was published on May 18, 2011. In general, he criticized a copyright policy that is strongly determined by lobbyism and the influence of the entertainment industry. He calls for a stronger focus on actually demonstrable economic consequences of copyright and patent law.
Emergence
The British government under David Cameron commissioned the report in November 2010. Cameron quoted the Google founders as saying that Google could never have been founded in the UK. UK-based firms like Spotify and Last.fm , in particular, would regularly complain that the UK legal system was hindering them in their business. Cameron cited, among other things, the possibility of including a fair use provision in British copyright law.
The award of the contract drew numerous enthusiastic and appalled reactions from British rights holders.
In addition to Hargreaves, the media manager Tom Loosemore, Roger Burt from IBM , the economist David Gann, the British-American legal scholar James Boyle and the economist Mark Schankerman sat on the committee, which met monthly.
content
The report's authors recommend a change in the strategic direction of policy for intellectual property ( intellectual property ). Overall, they are skeptical of current intellectual property rights policy as it hinders innovation and growth. The report repeatedly complains that politics in this area often take place without an empirical basis and that decisions are made unilaterally to protect intellectual property. The report points out that numerous tightening of the law in the last few decades obviously did not bring society any profit, such as various extensions of the protection period, while urgent reforms did not take place.
The authors take a detailed look at the influence of lobby groups on policy-making. On the one hand, they complain about the influence of the few rights holders, for whose business models intellectual property rights are essential and who are therefore prepared to invest a lot in lobbying. On the other hand, they criticize the fact that these rights were only a secondary issue for the numerous consumers until a few years ago. The influence of certain celebrities and skillful entertainment companies has distorted the political process.
Several recommendations are made in the report:
- One sees a big problem with orphaned works, i.e. works that are in fact unusable because the owner of the rights can no longer be found. For this purpose, generous exemptions are proposed on the one hand, and a collecting society on the other hand , which can license orphan works on a large scale on a simple basis and settle accounts with owners who may be found later.
- Fair use regulations are considered to be economically more sensible than the European system of barriers. However, contrary to Lionel Bentley's opinion , the commission came to the decision that a fair use provision would not be compatible with the EU directives. It calls for exceptions in copyright law that allow new, small companies to be active in the creative field. It is proposed to implement all the restrictions that the EC directives allow, and also to introduce another one for text and data analysis. This includes, in particular, better protection against satires and parodies than in the previous British law and an extensive expansion of the provisions on private copying.
- The UK should work to enforce open barriers in the EC that allow adaptation to new technologies. In the current state of affairs, a thicket of different rights and collecting societies often complicates creative innovation and is blocking the way, especially for young, inventive companies.
- The patent system is described as urgently in need of reform. More effective institutions must be created as well as a way of dealing with the masses of patents falling on the patent offices. Among other things, this requires increased international cooperation; urgent support for the common European patent is requested. A significant increase in patent fees is also proposed. The Commission deplores the frequent misuse of patents to hinder inventions and warns against extending patents to non-technical areas. While patents are successful in areas in which individual innovations stand on their own (such as medicines), they often hinder innovations in areas in which knowledge is strongly interwoven (software). The Intellectual Property Office should also make the patent system fully accessible to small and medium-sized companies and provide them with extensive advice.
reception
Shortly before the publication of the Hargreaves report, the Irish government commissioned a similar report.
The law professor James Boyle, who himself was involved as an expert in the formulation of the review, sees it as a success that the numerous shortcomings of the current intellectual property regime have been identified and that the report also contains suggestions for changes that are easy to implement. The director of the World Intellectual Property Organization , the Australian Francis Gurry , said that the report will have an impact far beyond the UK.
The Financial Times already announced a "revolution" in its preliminary reporting, while Mike Masnick of Tech Dirt , an outspoken opponent of the current copyright legislation, considers it to be excellent in terms of content, but presumably without political consequences.
Established entertainment industry representatives like the Creative Coalition Campaign cited the fact that the report did not call for fair use regulations as a success, although they were supported by large companies in the music industry.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i James Boyle : The Hargreaves Review Published Today , The Public Domain May 18, 2011, also published in the Financial Times , May 18, 2011.
- ↑ a b c d e Matt: Hargreaves in the wild: The Top 10 Recommendations , IPKat May 18, 2011.
- ↑ a b Elizabeth Rigby: Hargreaves to push for online 'rights' exchange , May 15, 2011
- ↑ Intellectual Property Office: About the review ( Memento of the original from July 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ A b Mike Masnick: UK Copyright Review Hardly Surprising Or Radical; But Will Face Opposition , TechDirt May 18, 2011.
- ↑ a b c BBC: Hargreaves review gives copyright law digital makeover , May 8, 2011
- ↑ WIPO press release: WIPO Director General Francis Gurry welcomes the UK Independent Review of Intellectual Property and Growth ( Memento of the original of May 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Music Week: Hargreaves Report - the reactions , May 18, 2011.
