Intellectual Property

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock Excerpts

Tuesday 26th April 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

I have no wish to adopt the US system here. We are working hard to improve the arrangements on a worldwide basis. Copyright is 70 years —that has been agreed internationally. People have different views as to whether that is right or wrong but it helps our creative sector enormously.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab)]

My Lords, with no disrespect to small businesses which suffer from losing intellectual property rights, does the Minister agree that it is even more worrying and tragic when employees lose their pension rights because of the actions of a magnate—an entrepreneur—with no concern for the rights of their workers, such as Sir Philip Green?

[Baroness Neville-Rolfe]

Obviously, I share the noble Lord’s concern about pension rights. There was a lively debate in the other place on this issue yesterday which merits reading.