LONDON (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — The UK investigates “Fair Use.” "The BBC reports that a UK think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research, has called for the legalization of format shifting. In a report commissioned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, they state that copyright laws are out of date, and that people should have a 'private right to copy' which would allow them to legally copy their own CDs and DVDs on to home computers, laptops and phones. The report goes on to say that: 'it is not the music industry's job to decide what rights consumers have. That is the job of government.' The report also argues that there is no evidence the current 50-year copyright term is insufficient. The UK music industry is campaigning to extend the copyright term in sound recordings to 95 years."
In the USA, you can (normally) make a copy of a legally purchased CD, LP, whatever, for your own private use, whether that be for a backup or to listen to via your car stereo in another format. That’s the “Fair Use Act” (which actually includes a lot more rights, but that’s it as far as you’re probably concerned). No such right legally/technically exists in the United Kingdom. Digital Music News writes, “Technically, British copyright law prohibits the ripping of CDs and DVDs, even for personal use. That has generated calls for an overhaul by the Institute for Public Policy Research.
The IPPR pointed to a 300-year old body of law, one that is out-of-step with current media consumption behaviors.” Slashdot report via the BBC that “that people should have a ‘private right to copy’ which would allow them to legally copy their own CDs and DVDs on to home computers, laptops and phones.
