Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill

Debate between Baroness Whitaker and Lord Jenkin of Roding

Monday 28th January 2013 Grand Committee

[Baroness Whitaker]

My Lords, this group of amendments is about Clause 65 as it affects the creators of the work and thus it has a different slant. I apologise for not being able to speak at Second Reading to indicate the line of the amendments in my name and that of the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin of Roding, but they are very much in the spirit of the Government’s repeal of the exception provided in Section 52 of the 1988 Act, which I applaud. I am glad to say that the design industry is in favour of our amendments and I am grateful for its expert comments.

Amendment 28DA simply completes the protection for our creative designs that the Government provide by their initial repeal by applying it also to works of art made prior to June 1957. Most heavily copied classic designs, such as the Eames chair, were created prior to 1957, so without this amendment the Government’s repeal would be of limited value and, incidentally, would leave the UK in breach of the European Court of Justice’s decision in Flos, to which my noble friend Lord Stevenson and other noble Lords have referred.

Amendment 28FA also completes, I submit, the Government’s intention in their repeal. The two provisions in it are almost consequential to Clause 65. The amendment to Regulation 16 of the Duration of Copyright and Rights in Performances Regulations 1995 ensures that the regulations apply to copyrights that were never protected under previous legislation but will be now. If Regulation 24 of those regulations were not amended as we suggest, the making or import of copyright-infringing articles would be permitted indefinitely, on payment of a royalty, in cases where, for instance, a furniture design has been revived. This again is incompatible with EU law. Without this amendment, some of our most important and iconic designs would not receive the protection that the Government appear to have in mind.

Amendment 28EA ensures a short transition period of four months, but with the possibility of a four-month extension if warranted, for third persons who manufacture or who hold stocks of copies of design works within the European Economic Area. Most of these replicas are not made in the EEA—we all know where they are most likely to originate. The repeal of Section 52 will not have any substantial impact on employment or businesses in the UK, so it is reasonable to allow a short time for them to comply, with a proportionate extension to strike a balance—there we go again with balance—between the rights of designers and the interests of undertakings caught by the new law.

In conclusion, I draw noble Lords’ attention to the present situation for our many talented designers who add so much to our economic strength, as the Minister said. Because there has been insufficient protection, the UK has become a safe haven for the sale of replicas of designs that breach copyright. Only two other countries in Europe fall short of good practice in this way: Estonia and Romania. Indeed, there are several criminal prosecutions pending against UK-based suppliers in other countries. The damage to the reputation of our design market—potentially one of our great strengths—is immense. No British jobs are at stake if we implement these amendments and fair competition as well as our international reputation will be improved. Our brilliant design businesses will have more security to develop. It is a win-win prospect. I beg to move.

[Lord Jenkin of Roding]

My Lords, I added my name to the noble Baroness’s amendment. I, too, have had representations from the organisations that represent designers, and emphasise one point made by the noble Baroness: that many of these replicated designs are not made in the EEA, and certainly not in the UK. One group conducted considerable research on this subject and discovered that quite often a UK name is linked with the design, but that when you go behind that you find that it is largely a sham. It is quite clear that all this comes from abroad, so merely repealing Section 52 by itself will not achieve the Government’s intentions. As for their representing it as being of considerable value to designers, I have to say that without the two amendments in this group which the noble Baroness has tabled, it will be largely ineffective.

I hope very much, therefore, that the Government will feel able to accept these amendments. As the noble Baroness said, they complete the reform which the repeal of Section 52 is intended to provide. They add nothing that is extraneous to it, they merely make it effective, and I am sure that that is what the Government want. I hope very much that my noble friend the Minister will feel able to give these amendments a fair wind.

Localism Bill

Debate between Baroness Whitaker and Lord Jenkin of Roding

Tuesday 19th July 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Whitaker]

My Lords, my Amendment 148AZZC relates to what the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, has been saying, which I generally support, but is much narrower. It reflects concerns shared by the Royal Town Planning Institute and relates entirely to the purpose of setting up a neighbourhood forum, and hence making a neighbourhood plan.

At Report in another place, the Government amended subsection (5)(a) of new Section 61F so that an organisation can be designated as a neighbourhood forum if,

“it is established expressly for either or both of the following purposes—

(i) furthering the social, economic and environmental well-being of individuals”—

I abbreviate a bit—and,

“(ii) promoting the carrying on of trades, professions or other businesses”.

There was very little discussion of the government amendment in the other place.

The purport of “either or both” is that the neighbourhood forum and any consequent neighbourhood plan could be set up purely with the sole purpose of carrying on trades, professions or other businesses. There is no reason for that not to be one of the purposes, but government guidance and most ideas of planning take account of economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development. A neighbourhood plan should surely not address one activity alone.

The Government may want to think again and adopt something along the lines of my amendment, which makes it clear that the purpose of the neighbourhood forum is to further the social, economic and environmental well-being of the residents, including carrying on businesses if need be, but would not allow this at the expense of the other factors.

[Lord Jenkin of Roding]

My Lords, I have five amendments in this group and will deal with them extremely briefly, because they are really all addressed to the same issue. I do not find at all clear the relationship between a neighbourhood area that may consist wholly or largely of residential properties and one that has an established business in it. My noble friend has tabled a very important group of amendments to establish that there can be neighbourhood business areas. That is certainly a very considerable advance. But when one is dealing, as one does in Schedule 9, with definitions of bodies that can be neighbourhood areas and areas that they can cover, can that include a neighbourhood area with a business? Can they form a neighbourhood area? Is all that in fact now covered by government Amendment 148AE, which comes in a future group? I and others are not at all clear on what will be the interaction where there are combined communities of businesses and residences. Those must cover a very large part of the country, which might form themselves into neighbourhood areas. I get the impression that the Bill has been designed on the assumption that they are all going to be residential properties, when of course they are not. They may well be small businesses as well. It would be very helpful if my noble friend could indicate how these can work together and form a neighbourhood area.

I disagree with my noble friend Lord Greaves—we are moving into an entirely different area here. Quite a lot of local plans have developed around the country, and I will not weary the Committee by reading out a list of them. It seems important that if one is going to have all this new bureaucracy to try to surround this whole area, which is what we are getting in the Bill, the question is whether it can be made to work as successfully as quite a lot of the local plans have been working. I entirely support the amendment moved by my noble friend Lord True, but if my noble friend on the Front Bench can give us some indication of how the various components of what a neighbourhood plan would be can work together, that would be extremely helpful. A number of bodies outside will read her words with very great care.