§ Mr. MaclennanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures his Department is taking to ensure compliance with copyright law; and what progress it is making towards taking out a photocopying licence with the Copyright Licensing Agency. [10992]
§ Mr. Tony LloydThis Department takes its responsibilities under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 seriously and is already party to the Central Office of Information agreement with the Newspapers Licensing Agency in respect of systematic copying of newspapers.
The copying of Crown copyright material is not a matter for licensing for use by Crown servants.
Representatives of the Copyright Licensing Agency and this Department most recently met on 30 April 1997 and we are assessing the position in respect of non-newspaper copying in the light of that meeting.
An agreement with the CLA is not necessarily required in order to comply with UK copyright legislation.