IT Cloud has a silver lining for file sharers

Published on Tuesday 2 August 2011 17:53

GOOGLE and Amazon will soon permit consumers to store back-up files of their music and film libraries in an internet "cloud", after the government announced sweeping changes to the copyright laws.

Unlike most countries, Britain's current intellectual property regime makes it technically illegal to transfer content from CDs or DVDs on to a different format, such as an MP3 file on a computer.

However, Business Secretary Vince Cable is expected to announce today that he will legislate to sweep away these restrictions. The move would make it legal for consumers to build up personal libraries of music, videos and films on their home computers and transfer them on to devices such as iPods - as millions already do without being aware that they are technically breaking the law.

The move will also clear the way for companies such as Google and Amazon to develop online content storage systems for UK consumers, allowing them to create back-up files of music and film libraries in the Cloud system on the internet, allowing material to be retrieved even if their own computer or MP3 player is stolen or lost.

The reforms are also expected to make it legal for individuals to burn copies of purchased content for other family members to use.

However, sharing files of copyrighted material over the internet is expected to remain illegal.

Mr Cable is also expected to give legal protection to internet spoofs of famous chart hits and movie blockbusters.

Legislation to protect parodies would prevent the kind of legal challenge which forced the makers of YouTube hit Newport State of Mind - which relocated Jay-Z's Empire State of Mind from New York to south Wales - to remove it from the video-sharing site.

Mr Cable said: "We are determined to explore how exceptions to copyright can benefit the UK economy and support growth. Private copying is carried out by millions of people, and many are astonished that it is illegal in this country. We need to bring copyright into line with people's expectations for the modern digital world. This will free up innovative British businesses to develop new consumer technology and help boost economic growth."

Susan Heaton Wright, a music consultant and director of Viva Live Music, said she appreciated that it was necessary for the law to move with the times, but had concerns that musicians would still lose out.

"In the past if you had a book it was prohibited to photocopy pages to give to other people," she said. "Today you can buy an album and make multiple copies of it on various systems and, in the future, you will be able store it in the Cloud. I just think that there should be a nominal charge for storing in the Cloud. Music should be paid for."Mr Cable is also expected to endorse many of the major recommendations made by Professor Ian Hargreaves who has conducted a review into copyright which will be published today. In a speech at a conference organised by the Alliance Against IP Theft, Mr Cable will highlight out of date restrictions as "obstacles to important research".