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Intellectual Property

I totally agree, and I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman’s sterling chairmanship of the all-party group, which we all very much appreciate. He raises crucial points about things that have not been properly considered in the review. We must ensure that musicians and people who create music are properly rewarded for their initiative. It is totally unfair that the current situation will allow illegal downloads to continue. We must ensure that we have a viable music industry that can counter all of that. The review is a rare opportunity to consider whether our IP rules strike the right balance for rewarding creativity and allowing businesses the opportunity to develop and grow the knowledge economy. The Gowers report will stand or fall on whether the balance has been effectively struck. On the face of it, I do not believe that it has. The report fails to recognise the rights and interests of so many of our creators and artists. At first look, the review seems to be a modest document. It makes a little tweak here, does a bit of sorting out to facilitate enforcement, and removes some of the more general inconsistencies that Gowers identified. However, it is not what the report says that is important but the impression that it gives to so many stakeholders in our creative economy. The Gowers review may have undermined the confidence of a whole sector of our creative economy, particularly musicians and artists who now feel undervalued, unsupported and misunderstood in respect of what they are trying to achieve through copyright protection. It seems at times that Gowers decided unilaterally that copyright no longer belongs to the creator but to the user, the consumer and the general public. It is given back to the creator only as some sort of pat on the head or grudging concession. That view has infuriated the creative community in the UK, and the unprecedented collection of signatures of 5,000 UK musicians, from the humble to the high and mighty, who have come together to demand fair play for musicians, demonstrates the great concern of our artistic community, which feels unsupported and undervalued. The campaign is supported by the general public. A British Phonographic Industry opinion poll found that more than 60 per cent. of the public support these musicians and think that they should be treated equally when it comes to term extension. The review was a missed opportunity to support UK performers and the music industry, and it shows a lack of understanding of some of the key copyright issues and how they apply to artists and musicians. Copyright term extension has become the totem of the review and the hottest issue. It was probably the most controversial element that Gowers touched on. It is the one thing that has highlighted the feelings of being undervalued among our vital creators. All the open right groups and digital right groups that have emerged in the past few years have been able cleverly to suggest that this has all been about the big bad music industry and its multimillion pound musician chums. I think that Gowers bought into the perception that that was what term extension is all about, but this is not about the Elton Johns, the Robin Gibbs and the Cliff Richards; it is about the guys who played bass on Robin Gibb’s records, and the percussionists and drummers in Cliff Richard’s bands. They are guys who had the once in a lifetime opportunity to perform on a hit record and they should be rewarded throughout their lifetime for the recordings that they created. It is certain that Andrew Gowers looked closely at extension. He even put together a select group of Cambridge economists to consider it further. However, looking at their report it is clear from the outset—from the first few words—that they were predisposed to reject term extension. Not a creator, an artist or a musician was consulted. He never solicited or sought their views on that critical point. Andrew Gowers does not even attempt to consider why composers, novelists and the rest of those people should enjoy longer terms than sound recording artists and investors. Dismissively he focuses only on the wealthy musicians. Of course they will attract the media attention; that is inevitable in our culture. However, millions of people throughout the UK participate in music, and for every Robin Gibb there are thousands on thousands of musicians who will earn less than £10,000 a year. It is for those people that we say that the copyright term extension should be considered. We must remember that the British music industry is perhaps the most successful and innovative music industry anywhere in the world. It has had decades of unparalleled success in finding new talent and nurturing it and in ensuring that music has become one of our key export industries, which contributes so much to the Exchequer. The British music industry is fragile and it exists on the front line of technological and digital innovation. It battles week in and week out to try to stay abreast of all the new developments and technology in the digital revolution. We undermine that and do not give it our support at our peril. I hope that the Minister will listen to the clear representations, views and anxieties that the British music industry in all its forms and guises has about what has been suggested in the Gowers review. Everywhere in the Gowers report there are further erosions of the rights of musicians. I want to mention a couple of the recommendations as I see them. Recommendation 11, for example, proposes that copyright-protected music can now be transformed into new works without the permission of the original creator. The Minister will know that better as ““sampling””, and I am sure that he will find it in his vast collection of hip hop albums. I am the first to recognise that hip hop has been a fantastic development in the genre of popular music, and it has contributed much worldwide to the ongoing success of British music. Gowers recognises that, too. He has looked to the US example and decided to copy that. However, the US transformative use exception is described in legal journals as the most problematic exception in US copyright. Just as the US has discovered difficulties with that, Andrew Gowers has proposed that we copy that model. The European model, where authorisation is required from the artist before any of their work can be used in transformative recordings, works well. Surely it is right that UK creators should have the opportunity to say no to people who want to use their work in samples, especially if it will be used in a derogatory or offensive manner. Surely they should be rewarded for their music when it is used in the course of someone else’s performance. Recommendation 8 is a brave stab at clarifying how copyright material could be copied for personal use, for example by taking a CD and putting it on to an iPod. Gowers proposes a new exception that will give consumers a right to make limited copies for their own private use. I think that is right. The law has to be clarified, and no one has ever been prosecuted for copying their CD on to their MP3 player, but along with that there must be a sustained and robust education campaign. Just as the British music industry is coming to terms with digital downloading and growing that market, it might be seen as a green light for anyone to be involved in illegal downloading. It very much misses the point, to come back to what the hon. Member for Glasgow, North-West (John Robertson) said; it is not about copying for personal use, but about the mass of peer-to-peer sites that have emerged on the internet. Many people have uploaded their whole massive libraries and encouraged people to download illegally from them. British Music Rights has found that 80 per cent. of the music on the average MP3 player has been acquired illegally. That is the sort of thing that Gowers should be looking to tackle. Gowers has considered how creators can be compensated for the loss of revenue through CD copying and suggests that that should be added to the cost of a new CD when it comes out. That is a great wheeze given the perception that in the UK CDs are already overpriced. It will obviously have an impact on the competitiveness of the UK industry once again. That requires further assessment. There are good things in the Gowers report, and I come to them last as I recognise and acknowledge them as being useful and productive. I completely support the idea of further rights enforcements coupled with better copyright education for consumers and beefing up trading standards so that illegal copiers can be pursued. He makes good suggestions about stiffer penalties for people who have been prosecuted under the new legislation. He says good things about education, too, and it is right that he recognises the pioneering work that British Music Rights has done in that regard. I am glad that he recognised that in his report. As I have said, there is an awful lot in all of this. I have not even had time to touch on matters such as orphan works or the new patent office, which are all crucial to the debate. It is clear and certain that it needs further review, scrutiny and consultation. We need to allow all stakeholders—all those who have an interest in developing a knowledge economy—to come back and say what their views of the Gowers report are. It is almost certain that the balance is not right. Artists and creators are unfairly discriminated against, and right now they are feeling particularly undervalued. The British music industry is a success for the UK economy and we have to do all we can to support it. I hope that the Minister will listen carefully and clearly to the pleas and anxieties of the UK music industry, and that he will indulge the music industry by perhaps meeting its representatives to discuss some of its issues. It is important that we get this right. It is crucial for our whole economy. The knowledge-based economy is fundamental to the UK, and so much now depends on it. We have the review, which we could use as a base for the UK response. I hope that the Minister will listen to the many voices that have expressed concern about what has been suggested and that he will respond favourably and robustly to their views and concerns.