Like many others, this writer isn't the biggest fan of DRM restrictions, where he has purchased a song or movie only to find that he can't physically or legally copy these purchases for use on another device or as a backup to safeguard the item, as he doesn't truly own what he has purchased.
In 2011, David Cameron issued the Hargreaves report, which set out to review the country's copyright laws and determine whether any reforms may be required, with a view to promoting economic growth.
The report established that laws in the UK were dated and that with a view to modern paradigms; copying of music, movies and other media for personal use should be legalised to place a stop to a negative consumer image and to prevent the stifling of some innovations.
The report further goes on to to establish new approaches to obtaining the right to use works with no clear author, removing legal ambiguity, along with new systems to protect parodied works, with a view to trends on services such as YouTube. By allowing more content that hasn't been shown to damage original IP to be used legally, the hopes are that this will provide a boost to the economy.
Of course, this isn't the first report to have suggested many of these approaches, with a 2006 report largely ignored, however Vince Cable now intends to implement most of the Hargreaves report's recommendations, announcing that the move was "not only common sense but good business sense" and that "bringing the law into line with ordinary people's reasonable expectations will boost respect for copyright, on which our creative industries rely."
Laws for legal backups have existed in Europe for quite some time, though with some countries issuing a levy on items such as laptops and CD players that are capable of copying media. Naturally enough, many of the bodies representing record and movie labels in the UK shouted out to receive similar treatment, however Mr Cable's report had this to say, "Levies or other compensation are neither required nor desirable in the context of a narrow provision that causes minimal harm ... Levies are an unnecessary and inefficient tax on consumers. Furthermore, particularly in the current economic climate, it is not right to extract more money from the pockets of hard pressed consumers."
Release of full details of the proposal and its hopeful legalisation are expected to take place early next year.
