Copyright exceptions for private copying and parody delayed

I've written to the intellectual property minister, Lord Younger of Leckie, regarding the decision, this week, to "delay" the implementation of copyright exceptions statutory instruments (SIs) for private copying and parody. These were scheduled for implementation on 1 June 2014.

I specifically draw his attention to the Consumer Focus report, 'The economic impact of consumer copyright exceptions'.

Dear Lord Younger of Leckie,

In light of the decision this week, of Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments (JCSI), to hold up the implementation of copyright exceptions statutory instruments for private copying and parody, could I ask that you draw the committee's attention to the Consumer Focus report, 'The economic impact of consumer copyright exceptions'. It was first published in 2010, republished last year and is available at:

http://www.consumerfocus.org.uk/publications/the-economic-impact-of-consumer-copyright-exceptions-a-literature-review

The report itself may be accessed directly at:

http://www.consumerfocus.org.uk/files/2010/11/The-economic-impact-of-consumer-copyright-exceptions-Rogers-Tomalin-Corrigan.pdf.

Full disclosure - I am an academic at the Open University and was involved in producing the report, along with colleagues from Oxford University, Mark Rogers and Josh Tomalin. Mark was terminally ill at the time and sadly died in July 2011. But he felt the absence of economic evidence informing copyright policy was hugely important, sufficiently so to merit a significant chunk of his considerable professional energy.

The report focused solely on copyright exceptions as they relate to non-commercial, consumer activities. It dealt specifically with private copy format shifting and parody. We concluded -

Investigating potential economic damage to rights-holders requires an analysis of how consumer copyright exception could affect the demand for the original creative work. The processes via which consumer copyright exceptions influence the demand curve for original creative work can be complicated. This said, a standard analysis of the demand for creative works must assume that consumers incorporate the benefit of copyright exceptions into their demand. A consumer’s decision to purchase is based on the benefits of the product, including – in the case of creative work – the value of any copyright exception. In this sense, it can be argued that a creator automatically extracts value from copyright exceptions, since these directly influence the demand for the original creative work.

The economic evidence that format-shifting, parody and user-generated content cause any kind of economic damage to rights-holders simply does not exist. Arguments that support tighter copyright law, or support Private Copying Remuneration (PCR) systems, tend to confuse economic damage with consumer value. Any future analysis on this issue needs to investigate the conditions under which the proposed consumer copyright exceptions would have any impact on demand for creative work.

I hope that you and the JCSI find the report informs your decision making in this area.

Yours sincerely,

Ray Corrigan