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November 5, 2003 Media contact: Robin Gross, IP Justice Executive Director EU Copyright Directive Takes Effect in United Kingdom The United Kingdom has become the sixth European nation to implement the controversial European Union Copyright Directive (EUCD) into national law. The UK’s Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI 2003 No. 2498) amended the UK Copyright Designs and Patents Act of 1988 to provide greater rights to copyright holders. The new went into effect on October 31, 2003 and included many substantial changes to UK copyright law. The regulations create a broad new right to make copyrighted works available to the public that criminalizes P2P file-sharing of music. Under the new law, a British citizen can now get two years in prison for swapping music over the Internet. Similar to the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the new UK law outlawed devices and information that can assist in bypassing technological restrictions such as Digital Rights Management (DRM) schemes. The UK ban is so broad that it jeopardizes cryptographic research because it outlaws all commercial uses of technical information including its possession and distribution. "Its disheartening to see yet another national legislature being forced to change its domestic laws and imprison its citizens for file-sharing of music or for publishing certain technical information," said Robin Gross, Executive Director of IP Justice, an international civil liberties organization that promotes more balanced copyright laws. The new UK copyright law also creates new powers for copyright holders to obtain injunctions against Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for the allegedly infringing acts of their customers or others. UK Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI 2003 No. 2498): UK Copyright Office on EUCD Implementation: Information on legal bans against circumvention in Europe and the US: Circumvention Prohibitions Reconsidered: Why America’s Mistake is Europe’s Future |
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