CD copying OK but DRM circumvention is not :: Copyright reform unveiled

Circumventing DRM to make copies for personal use will remain illegal for consumers, under copyright reform proposals floated by the UK government today.

Lord Triesman, the Parliamentary Undersecretary for Intellectual Property And Quality (to give him his current title), introduced a touchy-feely 90-page consultation paper that’s so touchy and so feely, there are far more questions than answers.

But that’s understandable, given that this is only the first of two consultation exercises slated for 2008. A second consultation will hone the details before legislation is introduced: the timetable envisages this passing in mid-2009.

(These things take time: eight years elapsed after the mass adoption of the VCR before research libraries and other academic institions were allowed to record TV programs legitimately.)

The government proposes relaxing copyright enforcement for research and education purposes, to enable distance learning and whiteboard tuition. A related proposal will allow libraries to make a copy for archive purposes where the copyright holder can’t be found.

The government also proposes creating an exemption for the purposes of “caricature, parody or pastiche”.

This simply puts case law as it stands today onto the statute book. Following the Williamson vs Pearson case of 1987, a parody is regarded as infringing if it is substantially derived from the original. The proposed change suggests a parody will not be regarded as infringing if “it is not substantial”, either. So you won’t be able to take Stairway To Heaven, add the sound of a raspberry to the end, and claim it’s your own work, and avoid paying publishing royalties to Messrs P&P.

Shift my format

Copyright law should also recognise that consumers can legitimately make copies of copyright material they’ve already bought, the government proposes.

Speaking at the launch today, Lord Triesman said it made no sense to prevent someone making a playlist for use in the car from material they had legitimately purchased.The draft floated today does require that consumers should retain the original media.

The government also wants input on whether this “format shifting” right should simply apply to music and film, or other material such as books (moving them to an e-book reader or phone). Under EU legislation, the government isn’t allowed any leeway on copyright regarding computer games and software - although the copyright holder may specify usage conditions, of course.

But there’s a limit to private copying: DRM circumvention will be permitted for academic and research purposes, but not for the general public for entertainment.

The proposals met with a range of responses.

The National Consumer Council reckons “the devil is in the detail”: if your computer crashes, it’s expensive and difficult to prove you have legitimately acquired the media once already.

A member of the International Music Managers Forum pointed out that DRM on music is all but dead, the public hates it - but the UK is shirking its obligation to compensate rights holders through other means. Only three EU countries fail to have a copying levy, he said, and the UK is one of them.

The government, the National Consumer Council and “Freetard” representatives (e.g. the ORG) oppose levies.

Various corners of the music business, who spend much time litigating against each other, were all wary that the personal copying exemption was a Trojan Horse.

CEO of the BPI, Geoff Taylor, supported home copying but was mindful of “the law of unintended consequences”, as he described it.

He wasn’t impressed that a new copying exception was being introduced without compensation.

Nor did Taylor think the parody proposal was anything other than PR. “Do we have a shortage of satire in the UK?” he mused.

For his part, Lord Triesman unleashed his flamethrower on P2P file sharers (see separate story) and said the government would legislate by next year if a voluntary agreement wasn’t sorted out. We’ll also publish the transcript of an interview with the US for IP & Q shortly.