Written question asked by Lord Bellingham (Conservative) on Thursday, 16 October 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 3 November 2003. It was answered by Patricia Hewitt (Labour) on Monday, 3 November 2003 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Dept of Trade and Industry

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what steps her Department is taking to protect the interests of consumers from copy protected music CDs.

Answer: Mr. Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps her Department is taking to protect the interests of consumers from copy protected music CDs. [133410] Ms Hewitt: Rights owners must be able to use technology to protect their works against unauthorised copying and be free to issue their products, such as music CDs, in copy-protected format. However, these products should be identifiable as such, and we welcome music industry guidelines which recommend clear labelling as regards compatibility with various types of consumer equipment on which the CDs could be expected to be playable.

Secondary information