James Delahunty
16 Apr 2009 16:31
Consumer Focus has said that the copyright laws of the United Kingdom needlessly criminalize music fans and badly need to be updated. The comments come as the UK was ranked last in a survey of 16 countries' copyright laws. Currently, UK law technically makes it illegal to copy a CD that you "own" onto a computer or a portable player like an iPod, despite the fact that manufacturers like Apple provide software to do exactly that.
"UK copyright law is the oldest, but also the most out of date," said Ed Mayo, chief executive of Consumer Focus. "The current system puts unrealistic limits on our listening and viewing habits and is rapidly losing credibility among consumers. A broad 'fair use' exception would bring us in line with consumer expectations, technology and the rest of the world."
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, the UK and the United States were all surveyed. It ranked countries based on a balance between the interests of rights holders and the interests of consumers.
"It is currently a copyright violation [in the UK] to rip a CD that you own on to your PC or iPod," said Consumer Focus, "even though over half (55%) of British consumers admit to doing it and three in five (59%) think this type of copying is perfectly legal." Digital rights campaign body the Open Rights Group, backed the calls from Consumer Focus.
"The government is undermining copyright's reputation by failing to give clear rights to users in a changed digital world, where we all rip, mix and burn. Copyright urgently needs reform, as this study shows," said Open Rights group executive director Jim Killock.