UK Music responds to the Independent Review of Intellectual Property & Growth.

DATE: 18 MAY 2011

Today (May 18^th) the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills have published Digital Opportunity – an independent review of intellectual property and growth, led by Professor Ian Hargreaves.

UK Music will give careful consideration to the recommendations made by Professor Hargreaves over coming weeks and respond formally in due course.

Our initial reaction is as follows:

“The members of UK Music took this Review at face value, and we are pleased it recognises the vital role of intellectual property to this country’s future economic growth. Recent years have seen significant progress in terms of digital innovation and infrastructural change, such as the development of industry-led global repertoire databases, as suggested by Professor Hargreaves.

"Clearly, copyright law is not confined by national boundaries, and many of today’s recommendations are also the focus of European policy-makers. One of these is format shifting, an area where the UK music industry has willingly proposed solutions that would legitimise consumer behaviour and benefit UK creators. ‪

“We now look forward to engaging closely with Government and trust they will support our musical talent at home, in Brussels and everywhere else in the world.”‪