§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment his Department has made of the proposed EU copyright directive in respect of its effect on the legality of home recording of television programmes. [112558]
11W
§ Dr. Howells[holding answer 7 March 2000]: I have been asked to reply.
While the draft Directive would allow member states to provide exceptions to copyright permitting private copying of protected material on audio or audiovisual recording media, an amendment proposed by the European Parliament, and taken up by the European Commission in their amended proposal, would require that right owners receive "fair compensation" in exchange for such exceptions. However, as we have always stressed in discussions with the Commission and other member states, we do not consider that a levy or other form of payment would be justified in relation to the UK's limited exception in this area which allows home recording of broadcasts to enable viewing or listening at a more convenient time ("time-shifting"). Although there have been encouraging signs of flexibility from the Commission and others on the precise meaning of "fair compensation", we are still concerned that the overall approach to exceptions in the Directive is too prescriptive, and we are continuing to press strongly for further improvements in this area. We also recognise the potential conflict between exceptions to rights and the use of technical protection measures by right owners, and we are seeking a balanced solution to this issue which would allow users' reasonable "time-shifting" expectations to continue to be met.