§ Mr. Baldryasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he intends to circulate a consultative document on the reform of the law of copyright; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what initiatives he intends to take to protect United Kingdom copyright industries.
§ Mr. PattieThe Government intend to reform copyright law and to this end will introduce a Bill based on the proposals in the recent White Paper "Intellectual Property and Innovation" (Cmnd. 9712) when the parliamentary timetable permits. The drafting of this highly complex Bill is underway and we plan to produce draft clauses for consultation with experts and interested parties in due course.