§ Ms WalleyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to introduce regulations to give effect to enforcement procedures under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. [17687]
§ Mr. Ian TaylorEnforcement of copyright offences already falls within the responsibilities of the police. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Acts 1988 contains provisions facilitating both civil and criminal proceedings under that Act. These provisions which re-enacted and improved upon earlier legislation have been in force since 1 August 1989. Section 165 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 additionally makes it a duty of local weights and measures authorities to enforce copyright offences. However, when agreeing to introduce 903W that provision, the Government made it clear that it would not be brought into effect until there had been an opportunity to carry out full consultations with local authority associations on the possible resource implications. Those consultations are not yet complete.