Disabled people are now amongst the first groups allowed to copy copyright material, as part of broader legislation that eases copyright law, although the general copying of copyright material is still a crime.
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) had said that all private copying for personal use would be legal from June 1 but this has been delayed pending Parliament’s approval.
The changes are part of the general reform to copyright law, which the IPO estimates will bring benefits of at least £250m to the UK economy over the next 10 years.
The first revision to copyright law is entitled the Copyright and Rights in Performances (Disability) Regulations 2014, which will allow disabled people to make legal copies of materials in different formats, such as MP3s, CDs and DVDs for their personal use, although they will not be allowed to give that content to other people.
The Copyright and Rights in Performances (Research, Education, Libraries and Archives) Regulations 2014 is the second amendment to be introduced, under which UK libraries are free to scan materials and distribute them to their members via digital collections.
Meanwhile, a third amendment, which is the Copyright (Public Administration) Regulations 2014, allows public offices to publish their material in an effort to make it easier for people to stay abreast of local affairs without the need to attend council offices to read materials.
Interestingly, most people seem to believe that copying copyright material for their personal use is already legal, with a poll in 2009 showing that almost 60 per cent did so and felt perfectly happy with their actions.
However, Intellectual Property Minister Lord Younger said that the changes will end the instances where people carrying out minor, reasonable copying could have found themselves on the wrong side of the law.