This clause of the Bill would permit the Secretary of State (currently Lord Mandelson) to amend the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act by Statutory Instrument, also known as secondary legislation. In practice this would allow future Governments to restrict or extend copyright law without Parliamentary debate and without a vote in the House of Commons.
The Government claims this is necessary to allow legislation to be brought forward more quickly to deal with emerging technologies. However copyright law is extremely sensitive and complex. Is it right that the Government should have the power to make changes without proper scrutiny and debate?
During the House of Lords committee stage the Government has made some concessions, introducing a consultation mechanism and extra parliamentary scrutiny for proposed changes to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act.
Further reading:
Danny O’Brien, International Outreach Coordinator at the Electronic Frontier Foundation on how the Bill could destabilize the UK’s digital economy.
“This new power can never be used to create new fair use exceptions or confirm the legality of a new Internet service or products: They can only be used to outlaw and impose new restrictions on them.” However, note that, ” a Statutory Instrument declaring file-sharing to be legal would reduce the infringement of copyright on the internet, and therefore would be within the scope of the powers.”
The GIST Hub
Clause 17: Power to amend copyright provisions
This clause of the Bill would permit the Secretary of State (currently Lord Mandelson) to amend the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act by Statutory Instrument, also known as secondary legislation. In practice this would allow future Governments to restrict or extend copyright law without Parliamentary debate and without a vote in the House of Commons.
The Government claims this is necessary to allow legislation to be brought forward more quickly to deal with emerging technologies. However copyright law is extremely sensitive and complex. Is it right that the Government should have the power to make changes without proper scrutiny and debate?
During the House of Lords committee stage the Government has made some concessions, introducing a consultation mechanism and extra parliamentary scrutiny for proposed changes to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act.
Further reading:
Danny O’Brien, International Outreach Coordinator at the Electronic Frontier Foundation on how the Bill could destabilize the UK’s digital economy.
Nigel Harper on the Digital Economy Bill google wave discussion:
Article by Henry Porter on the use of statutory instruments to introduce or change legislation.
Financial Times article on the Government’s concessions to this clause introduced as amendments in the House of Lords Committee stage.