The UK's Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) has welcomed the government's decision to endorse all the recommendations made by Prof. Ian Hargreaves outlined within his independent review of Intellectual Property (IP) and Growth.
The fundamental aim of the consultation was to identify barriers to growth within the IP framework, which consists of the rules and regulations covering how IP is created, used and protected in the UK. Using evidence-based responses, the consultation aimed to create a picture of how well the current IP system serves to help promote entrepreneurialism, economic growth, social and commercial innovation.
According to JISC Executive Secretary Dr. Malcolm Read, JISC submitted an evidence-based response to the consultation and crucial recommendations have been included – such as the need for exceptions for data/text mining, library archiving and parody to support research, teaching and learning. The organisation also highlighted the need to prevent contracts from over-riding the exceptions to copyright, possible solutions for orphan works as well as the streamlining of the processes to clear rights.
Copyright law risks becoming a law that is ignored, or viewed with contempt, by users in the near future if policy measures and legal reform are not put in place to reflect education's and research's bona fide use of digital media and technologies. Ultimately, copyright law needs to be re-cast in order to reset the balance between the public and private sector, creators, educators, researchers, the creative industries and end-users.
JISC believes that the implementation of the recommendations such as including the commitment to furthering easy, widespread access to information and resources, will ensure that technology and information management are placed at the heart of research and education. It supports the swift implementation of these recommendations to help create a robust IP framework which can optimise the impact of UK research and enable the nation's universities to fully contribute towards the UK's innovation and growth.
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