Copyright

Copyright law gives copyright owners the exclusive right to copy work, such as music and film, issue copies to the public and make changes to the work. Doing any of these without the permission of the copyright holder is against the law. For example, anyone copying purchased music CDs to play on an MP3 music player, an activity known as format-shifting, is breaking copyright law.

‘16 per cent of consumers have format-shifted a CD or DVD they have legally purchased in the past 12 months; this rises to 28 per cent among consumers aged 15 to 24, the most digitally engaged consumers’

Despite the increasing relevance of copyright law to their daily lives, consumers are provided with hardly any information about it. Consumers now use digital technologies to ‘rip, mix and burn’ creative content as part of their daily lives, with little or no knowledge of copyright law.

‘73 per cent of British consumers are “never quite sure what is legal and illegal under current copyright law” ‘

Copyright law exists to encourage creativity and innovation for the benefit of society as a whole. To do this it needs to balance the interests of creators, investors and consumers. Consumer Focus is working towards making the law more balanced in consumers’ favour and ensuring that enforcement of the law is fair and reasonable.

Latest report

Time to change the tune - Consumer research briefing on copyright

Copyright exceptions

There are a small number of exceptions to copyright holders’ exclusive rights which exist for the benefit of consumers, and these are important for achieving balance in copyright law. But these existing exceptions in UK law are outdated and no longer in line with consumer use. Consumer Focus is working with stakeholders at UK and EU level to change the law regarding copyright exceptions for the benefit of consumers.

Consumer Focus response to Gowers 2nd stage copyright consultation 247 KB

Proportionate enforcement: copyright infringement through peer-to-peer filesharing

With the arrival of digital technologies consumers have become able to infringe copyright on a large scale. Copyright infringement through peer-to-peer (p2p) filesharing has dominated the debate on copyright. Copyright infringement is not to be condoned, but law enforcement always has to be proportionate and carried out in a way that respects human rights, particularly the human right to ‘due process’ which includes the presumption of innocence and a fair trial.

An enforcement focused approach to copyright infringement through p2p filesharing is treating the symptoms, not the cause, which is the failure of the market to meet consumers’ needs and expectations in the digital world. The only effective solution is new business models that meet consumers’ clearly expressed demand for digital services.

Filesharing provisions – Guide to Ofcom’s initial obligations code

Innovative and competitive digital markets

‘Nearly 34 per cent of British consumers have streamed videos online in the past 12 months, and 20 per cent have purchased music in MP3 format. This rises to 55 and 36 per cent respectively for consumers aged 15 to 24′

Consumers have an interest in competitive markets; copyright gives the copyright holder control of the work, which restricts competition and imposes costs on consumers. We want to see a digital economy characterised by competitive, dynamic and innovative markets, so that consumers can use creative content and creators receive an income from their work.

Copyright licensing allows service providers to obtain a license from the copyright holder to provide copyrighted works to consumers. Copyright licensing has a direct impact on the quality and choice consumers have in the digital content market. However, mechanisms to license copyrighted works for digital services, online or via mobile devices, are still evolving and have so far failed to fully support the fast moving digital market.

EU and international

Consumer Focus represents UK consumer interests at European and international level, as part of BEUC’s digital team and co-chairs TACD Intellectual Property Working Group. We are also working with Consumers International’s access to knowledge (A2K) programme and we wrote the UK country report for the 2010 IP Watchlist, which compares copyright from a consumer perspective across 34 countries.