§ Lord Carterasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will oppose any plans by the European Commission to introduce a home taping levy which does not take full account of the needs of individual visually-handicapped, hearing-impaired people and people with learning difficulties; and,
Whether they will ensure that workable exemption schemes for individual visually-handicapped, hearing-impaired people and people 96WA with learning difficulties are in place before any decision on the European Commission's home taping proposals is taken.
§ Baroness Denton of WakefieldHer Majesty's Government are unconvinced of the need for a levy on blank recording tape in order to compensate copyright owners for private copying. The Government will therefore examine critically any proposal by the European Commission to require member states to introduce levy schemes, and will be particularly concerned to safeguard the interests of visually-handicapped and other people who use tape for purposes which do not infringe copyright.