Copyright owners will be dismayed to hear that the Government has proposed that the law of copyright be relaxed to allow limited 'private copying'. Under present law copying anything in print, or even a CD which you have already bought, is also a breach of the copyright of the person who owns the copyright.

 

Faced with law which is ignored on such a vast scale, the Government has accepted many of the recommendations of a 2006 report on the reform of copyright law and has started a consultative process with a view to allowing limited private copying for non-commercial use of copyrighted material.

 

It is too early in the process to outline what form such a relaxation might take, but one possibility is that the copying technology itself may incorporate a licence or it could be that persons wishing to make private copies must hold a licence.

 

There is no suggestion that multiple copying or file-sharing is likely to be made lawful. The consultation closes today.