The Gowers Review of Intellectual Property may have musicians in a twist, but it has been roundly welcomed by the growing group of people pressing for international copyright reform. More than a few geeks were tuned in to the BBC Parliament live stream when Gordon Brown stepped up to the despatch box to present his pre-Budget report on 6 December.
The review, one of several to accompany the Chancellor's PBR, was commissioned last December to examine how the UK intellectual property framework was performing in the digital age. By this past week, it was clear that Andrew Gowers, the former Financial Times editor, had presided over a review that had attracted more public participation than any of its kind.
The result is a pragmatic, evidence-based study that gives more weight to the argument for copyright reform than anything before it. Recommendations were put forward that would allow consumers to copy CDs on to their iPods without breaking the law, artists to exercise their prerogative to reinvent and parody work without seeking permission first, and libraries to preserve copyrighted works satisfactorily, using new digitisation techniques.
To the chagrin of some in the recording industry, Gowers presented watertight evidence against extending the copyright term for sound recordings. A bevy of musicians responded with a disgruntled ad in the FT. It was the equivalent of an HGV driver complaining about a hike in fuel tax, and the public would do well to see through it. As Gowers has outlined, copyright extension harms the public interest and brings scant benefit to the economy.
The decision might not please high-profile musicians, but it should delight the several Nobel Prize-winning economists whose similar findings the US Supreme Court ignored in favour of Hollywood rhetoric in 2003. Indeed, the report will set a global benchmark for copyright reform. The authors are aware of this, aiming their recommendations not just at the UK government, but at the EU and the World Trade Organisation. Much of the UK's IP policy is tied up with European directives and international treaties. And herein lies an interesting problem.
Many of Gowers's 50 or so recommendations had to do with enforcement. Enforcement is easy: giving the Home Office and Trading Standards more powers to police copyright infringement can be achieved in a matter of months. Reform is harder, much of the effort needing to go through the bureaucratic thickets of Brussels. The Gowers approach is clearly carrot-and-stick, but should the stick come so soon before the carrot?
Copyright reformists know the fight is not over. The government has agreed to take forward all the recommendations for which it is responsible. Campaigners in Brussels will continue to pursue those for which it is not - which include the recommendation not to extend copyright term. And with the power of 142 pages of authoritative research behind them, the campaigners can do it.
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