§ Michael FabricantTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures she proposes to take to combat the illegal downloading of music from the internet. [164840]
§ Ms HewittThe UK music industry makes a substantial contribution to our economy. The UK is the third largest market in the world for sales of music and the National Music Council estimates that the music industry generates value added in excess of £3.6 billion (2000).
Illegal downloading of music from the internet has a serious impact on our creative industries and the artist they represent. BPI research estimates that 7.4 million people in the UK have downloaded material from illegal sites.
UK copyright law does provide strong protections for those who own rights in music so that they are able to take action against any illegal use of their material. However, we believe that increasing the provision of legal downloads is the best approach to combating illegal downloading and welcome the positive steps recently taken by the music industry to prom ate the availability of legitimate music tracks on the internet.