BL demands overhaul of intellectual property law

Microsoft and Google have joined forces with the British Library in calling on the government to radically overhaul the intellectual property (IP) law.

Meetings at both the Labour and Conservative Party conferences have added momentum to the debate and a manifesto for new legislation has been drafted.

The National Consumer Council , British Phonographic Industry and the Open Rights Group are also lobbying both the current government and the resurgent Conservative Party to modernise the law to reflect the digital age.

“The current stand-off on intellectual property threatens innovation, research and our digital heritage,” said British Library chief executive Lynne Brindley .

Some information professionals may be surprised to see Google campaigning for change given its approach to book digitisation so far, but Brindley was quick to defend the search engine giant.

“They have an interesting view,” she said. “They argue that the way they do things, with the snippets of book content, is a legitimate interpretation of the law as it stands.”

In its manifesto the British Library argues that the current copyright law seeks “to strike an appropriate balance between the rights of creator and the public interest in ensuring access. Without reward there is nothing to be gained in innovation and without access there is no inspiration for the future.”

Discussions took place at both party conferences. “From our point of view it’s given the issue another profile rise,” Brindley said.

The manifesto describes the UK’s copyright legislation as “creaking under the strain” and calls for modernisation to ensure that digital content is not treated differently to printed content.

It also calls for standardisation of digital rights management (DRM), the technology used to protect digital content from copying.

“Because there are no common standards there is a notion of content being locked down,” Brindley said.

As the law stands, audio and visual content is at risk of being lost forever because it is illegal for institutions to copy the material. The British Library wants the fair dealing clause in the current copyright laws to be extended to audio and visual material.

The British Library’s intellectual property manifesto is based on its submission to the Gowers Review. The Gowers report into intellectual property is expected this year.