§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)I am pleased to inform the House that the Government are setting up a creative industries forum on intellectual property. This will be a cross-governmental body, with ministerial representation,8WS and jointly chaired by me and my right honourable friend the Minister for the Arts (Estelle Morris), who is making a similar Statement to the House of Commons. I am pleased to say that there will also be strong representation from the private sector, both from the creative industries themselves and from other key industry stakeholders such as Internet service providers and hardware manufacturers. Consumers will also be represented.
The forum will be a chance for a dialogue on intellectual property issues, such as business models, education and awareness raising, strategies for maximising the opportunities for the creative industries in a digital environment, while also addressing the challenges such as file-sharing and piracy.
The launch and first meeting of the forum is taking place on 19 July at the London College of Communication, Elephant and Castle. Industry has warmly welcomed the initiative.
It is anticipated that the forum will work through meetings that will set tasks and objectives to be taken forward. There is intended to be a focus on outputs and deliverables, and I am confident that this will represent a significant development in an area crucial to the UK's future competitiveness.
Terms of reference and membership of the forum will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses shortly.