§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will follow the example set by the New Zealand Parliament in promoting wide public access to public information at competitive, fair and reasonable prices by enacting an equivalent of Section 27 of the New Zealand Copyright Act 1994, which 180WA provides that no copyright exists in: (a) Bills; (b) Acts; (c) regulations; (d) bylaws; (e) parliamentary debates; (f) reports of select committees; (g) judgments of any court or tribunal; and (h) reports of Royal Commissions, commissions of inquiry, ministerial inquiries or statutory inquiries; and, if not, whether they will introduce other effective measures to promote wide public access to such public information.
§ Lord McIntosh of HaringeyThe former Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced in November 1996 that a formal review of Crown Copyright was to be undertaken. Consultations with other interested parties are taking place and it is anticipated that a Green Paper on the subject will be issued later this year.
Reports of the proceedings of Parliament, Bills of Parliament and select committee reports are subject to parliamentary copyright protection and are therefore a matter for the two Houses. Parliamentary copyright is administered on behalf of the two Houses by Her Majesty's Stationery Office with the object of securing the widest dissemination of parliamentary copyright material consistent with the good name and dignity of Parliament.
With a view to promoting public access, parliamentary copyright material, Acts, statutory instruments and other government papers are increasingly being made freely available on the Internet.