Outdated copyright law confuses consumers

Three out of four (73%) of us don’t know what we are allowed to copy or record¹, according to research from Consumer Focus, who is today calling on the UK Government to reform the UK’s outdated copyright law before the laws lose all credibility. 

Fewer than one in five (17%) consumers know that it is illegal to copy a CD or DVD they have bought on to a computer for their own use, and even fewer (15%) think that it is illegal to copy them to an iPod.  Nearly four in ten (38%) of those using either an iPod or MP3 player admit to copying CDs onto their player.

Most copyright law was written at a time when digital technologies did not exist, but the pervasiveness of these new technologies means that these laws now affect millions of UK consumers.

Eight out of ten (80%) consumers thought that copyright law should be updated now that we have digital technologies, with slightly more (82%) keen to see reforms striking a fair balance between the interests of consumers and artists.

Jill Johnstone, International Director, Consumer Focus said: ‘The credibility of UK copyright law has fallen through the floor.  Millions of consumers are regularly copying CDs or DVDs and are unaware they are breaching copyright law. 

‘The world has moved on and reform of copyright law is inevitable, but it’s not going to update itself.  If the Government wants consumers to respect copyright law they have to stop sitting on their hands and bring the law in line with the real world.’ 

Consumer Focus does not condone the infringement of copyright law and supports the Government’s view that ‘most people, given a reasonable choice, would prefer not to do wrong or break the law’². 

Consumer Focus wants to see ‘fair use right’ exceptions introduced that would allow consumers to make copies of copyrighted work they have purchased provided they are for ‘non-commercial use’ – such as copying CDs or DVDs to play on a different device (format shifting).  ‘Fair use rights’ would protect copyright holders’ exclusive rights, while providing exceptions to copying activities that cause no, or minimal, economic harm to the rights holders.

Although the Government supports an exception for non-commercial use by consumers³ they want the EU to first define ‘non-commercial use’ – despite a non-commercial exception for consumers already forming part of UK copyright law⁴.  Consumer Focus thinks that the considerable delay this will cause will damage the credibility of copyright law further and wants Government to press ahead with reform at a UK level.

Despite the increasing relevance of copyright law to their daily lives, consumers are provided with hardly any information about it. Our latest report Time to change the tune aims to establish a comprehensive picture of the copyright related activities consumers engage in and includes a series of ‘vox pop’ interviews with consumers. To see the video go to our copyright section.

ENDS

Notes to editor

Consumer Focus commissioned Kantar Media to conduct 2,026 face to face interviews with British adults aged 15 years and older on 17 to 23 September 2009.  The sample size allows Consumer Focus to make representative statements for the British population.

¹

² Outlined in the Digital Britain Report

³ P49, © the way ahead – A strategy for copyright in the digital age. October 2009

⁴ The concept of “non-commercial” use exception was introduced into section 29 of the Copyright, Designs and Patent 1988 Act when the EU Information Society Directive was implemented in 2003. Section 29 provides for a research exception for consumers. EU copyright law does not prevent the UK government from implementing a format-shifting exception, or non-commercial use exception, for consumers.