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Nate Vaagen

March 16th, 2012

Last Chance for Submissions to IPO’s Copyright Consultation

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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Nate Vaagen

March 16th, 2012

Last Chance for Submissions to IPO’s Copyright Consultation

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Peter Bradwell, Campaigner at the Open Rights Group, urges academics to submit evidence to the IPO’s copyright consultation.

There’s just over one week until the Intellectual Property Office’s consultation on changes to UK copyright law closes on March 21st. There are lots of excellent proposals in there for much needed copyright reform.

It’s a pretty large document, but there’s an issue that may be of particular interest to people in the academic fields. I’m thinking in particular of a proposal for a new exception to copyright for text and data mining. The proposal contends that:

…there is a strong case for ensuring that copyright does not obstruct the use of new technologies for scientific research, in particular where the use of those technologies does not unduly prejudice the aims of copyright…The Government proposes to make it possible for whole works to be copied for the purpose of data mining for non-commercial research. (paras. 7.87, 7.96)

In requesting evidence on this proposal, the consultation asks:

Would an exception for text and data mining that is limited to non-commercial research be capable of delivering the intended benefits? Can you provide evidence of the costs and benefits of this measure? Are there any alternative solutions that could support the growth of text and data mining technologies and access to them? (pg. 82)

There’s every chance that these proposals will actually be taken on into law, which would be a huge step forward for copyright and particularly for access to and use of information. But without support from those who think these are good ideas, they will likely be dropped. In the case of text and data mining, the key constituency is academics and research institutions. So if you feel anything towards these ideas, it would be massively helpful if you submitted something to the consultation!

Responses can be sent to copyrightconsultation@ipo.gov.uk.

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Nate Vaagen

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