HarperCollins Fights To Maintain UK Copyright Laws
HarperCollins, publisher of such names as Agatha Christie, J.R.R. Tolkien and David Starkey, made a plea to the UK Government yesterday to not water the copyright laws down.
“If you do, you will jeopardise the creative industries’ growth and their international competitiveness,” Victoria Barnsley of HarperCollins warned.
“I’m a passionate believer in the importance of a strong copyright framework as a key driver for economic growth,” Barnsley told an audience that included culture minister Ed Vaizey. “I implore Ed Vaizey, don’t compromise the successful copyright framework which currently exists in UK law.”
The recent Hargreaves Review of Copyright stated that the current laws were obsolete and archaic and should be relaxed; that people should be able to photocopy content or download it for personal use.
“I know there are naysayers out there, those that argue that copyright is a bothersome regulation that stifles innovation,” Barnsley said, but she argues that “not one jot of economic evidence was produced to support their case.”