UK pushing for £50,000 fines for online copyright infringement
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As part of the plan to protect “Creative Britain”, the Intellectual Property Office of UK government is proposing a massive increase in the maximum fine for online copyright infringement. This is an increase of 1000% over the current limit of £50,00.
This came in response to the Gower’s review of Intellectual Property reported in 2006. Submissions to the review from music, film, software and other rights holders urged for an increase of deterrents against large scale commercial infringement.
Alongside tougher financial penalties, Gowers recommended a maximum ten year prison sentence in the most serious cases of commercial gain from copyright infringement.
The Gowers report is written by Andrew Gower, former editor of the Financial Times. He was commissioned by Gordon Brown to lead an independent review of intellectual property rights in the UK, known as the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property. Amongst other things, this review was set up to consider the implications of extending the copyright on sound recordings in the UK.
