Hargreaves review: A starting point for a brighter digital future

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Responding to the the Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property and Growth released today, the Pirate Party UK welcomed the conclusion that copyright and patent law must adapt to the changing world in which we live.

As we made clear in our submission to the review, the Pirate Party agrees that copyright and patents should 'make not break markets' and that the rights of innovators and artists should be balanced with those of the public to enjoy such work.

The Party agrees with the review when it states that "businesses too need change, in the form of more open, contestable and effective global markets in digital content". Like Professor Hargreaves, we "urge Government to ensure that in future, policy on Intellectual Property issues is constructed on the basis of evidence, rather than weight of lobbying."

The Party is disappointed, however, that the review has been held back from proposing any real reform to deal with the extensive problems that current copyright and patent frameworks pose, nor sought to redress the imbalance between the rights of creator and the needs of society.

While the Review has clearly made progress in addressing some of the symptoms of our broken copyright and patent system, the Pirate Party believes that we need a more radical rethinking of the role of copyright and patent laws in the digital age.