The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) have recently published details of its draft legislation which will see a number of new exceptions to copyright being introduced to law – should they be passed.
The amendments to the copyright law follow the Hargreaves Review of copyright law in 2011, the Intellectual Property Office have been looking at ways to amend the existing copyright laws to make them fairer for all concerned, and it is hoped that the proposed amendments will enable this.
It is also hoped that the proposed amendments within the draft legislation will enable UK law to become aligned with existing European Union and international law.
One of the main amendments to be introduced within the draft legislation surroundings the use of copyright material being re-used.
Currently, the existing legislation allows copyright material to be re-used for the purpose of criticism, review and news reporting.
However, under the proposed legislation, the IPO are suggesting that organisations and individuals will be able to use copyrighted material for the purpose other than criticism, review and news reporting – although they have suggested that there would be a number of conditions.
The aim of the amendment is to prevent copyrighted material from unduly restricting the use of quotations for reasonable purpose, such as within academic content – as in such instances, this would cause minimal harm to the original copyright owner.
The consultation closes on June 17th.