Government to legalise CD burning in response to Hargreaves Review

The government is expected to respond to the Hargreaves Review on Wednesday, and the legalisation of format shifting is expected to be among the recommendations that will be taken onboard.

Reports in The Financial Times suggest that business secretary Vince Cable will say that the government is to allow citizens to burn CDs to put on MP3 devices, which is technically illegal under current copyright laws.

Cable is also expected to announce that the web blocking measures contained in the Digital Economy Act are unworkable, suggesting they may be scrapped.

However web site blocking could in future be possible under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act, which was used to force BT to block access to the Newzbin file sharing site.

Shireen Peermohamed, a partner in the intellectual property practice at law firm Harbottle & Lewis, told V3 that, while legalising format shifting will be welcomed by many, it is far from certain that the government will commit to anything.

"The devil is likely to be in the detail of what Cable says, and the timetable he proposes for any changes to be brought in. If reports are to be believed, he will be backing the introduction of a format shifting right," she said.

"While this proposal is likely to grab headlines, it remains to be seen whether it will be implemented; after all, it was something the previous government said it would introduce in 2006 but did not manage to do."

Cable is also expected to announce that the use of material for parody works that appears on sites like YouTube will also be made legal, which could anger those in the creative industries.

Peter Bradwell, a campaigner at the Open Rights Group, welcomed the move, arguing that it will have a huge impact on the creative industries and consumers.

"Exceptions like the right to parody, which many other countries already have, will bring huge rewards for creators and consumers," he said.

"A right to parody will lead to a blossoming of legitimate spoofs and satires by the public, comedians and campaigners alike. The government should be loudly applauded for wanting to modernise the UK's copyright laws."

The Hargreaves Review also outlined a number of other key measures that the government should consider adopting, including a Digital Copyright Exchange to give media businesses easier access to copyrighted material for new projects.