Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill

Lord Smith of Finsbury Excerpts

Monday 28th January 2013 Grand Committee

These rather fierce words were heard yesterday in Cannes—incredibly unfortunate but opportune. The Government have an opportunity to listen to those who argue, and the number is growing in support of my noble friend’s amendment, for a director-general who can focus entirely on a critical component of the British economy. Here is an opportunity. It should not be missed.

[Lord Smith of Finsbury]

My Lords, I support very strongly both the new clauses in front of us, but especially that proposed in Amendment 28C. I declare an interest as a non-executive board member of PPL, the collecting society for broadcast music rights, and also a rather minor member of the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society. I have one even more important interest and that is as a passionate believer in the importance, economic value and the future of the creative industries in this country. Intellectual property and the copyright that protects the value of that intellectual property are at the very core of the economic importance of those creative industries.

The creative industries represent something like 7% or 8% of our GDP these days. Even at a time of recession they remain strong and, in many respects, growing. They are incredibly important for us as an advanced industrial country because they are where much of our wealth creation is going to come from over the years and decades ahead.

For the creative economic sector, intellectual property is where that wealth resides. We have to make sure that we protect and nurture that intellectual property securely. That is why having a champion for the value of intellectual property such as is proposed in the amendment would be transformative in ensuring that our Government, Parliament and the world in general take intellectual property more seriously than they sometimes do at the moment.

Sadly, the report from Professor Ian Hargreaves was deeply disappointing in this respect. It contained a number of serious flaws and was based on flimsy evidence. The report from Richard Hooper was considerably better. I hope that the Government will take forward many of the proposals from Richard Hooper's report rather than placing too much reliance on the Hargreaves report.

Having a champion for intellectual property rights would be of great importance and great value. I do not think that the IPO could do it. The IPO is part regulator and part registrar. Its job has not until now been seen as being a promoter of the value of intellectual property. If the Government said, “We do not need a separate director-general: we will give this duty to the IPO”, I confess that I would be deeply worried. The work of the IPO has fallen down in much of its analysis and work recently. We have only to look at the glaring errors, for example, in its recent Collecting Societies Codes of Conduct document to see that it would not necessarily be the right place to put this responsibility.

Having a director-general with this very specific task, with a direct line through to Ministers, would be a far better solution for this vital section of the UK economy. We need the advocacy—the championing—that can come from such a role.

[Lord Howarth of Newport]

My Lords, I enter a note of caution. I feel as strongly as everyone else about the importance of intellectual property—that we should generate and protect it. That is a key dynamic of our economy and our creative economy in particular. However, I have some reservations about the proposition, as framed by the Alliance for Intellectual Property and as developed and powerfully articulated by the noble Lords, Lord Jenkin and Lord Clement-Jones, and the noble Baroness, Lady Buscombe. It seems to me that the specific remit of the proposed director-general of intellectual property rights as set forth in the amendment is insufficient and unbalanced. I am not opposed to anything contained within the proposed new clause, but if the Government are to create a functionary whose job it is to promote rights, it is important that the remit of that person and office should be balanced.

Everything that is proposed in the amendment for the director-general to do is directed towards advancing the interests of the creators and owners of intellectual property rights. That is fine in itself but there are also, very importantly, the interests of consumers and users. Ultimately, all of us believe that there is not a reason. If we have an appropriate regime for the promotion and protection of intellectual property rights, the whole of society will benefit, and I do not dissent from that. But in the near term or even the medium term, there are, as we know, tensions.

In the debate that the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, introduced for us as we reached Part 6 of the Bill he rightly stressed the responsibility that we all have as legislators to ensure that the new legislative regime is balanced and that the legitimate interests of all concerned are recognised. If we were to have a director-general of intellectual property, it should also be part of his duty to promote the broader public interest—something that we shall return to repeatedly in our debates on aspects of the clauses in Part 6 of the Bill.

On the other hand, if the remit of this office is as so far proposed by noble Lords, I do not see why the creators and owners of intellectual property should not themselves establish, fund and provide other support for their own champion. That would be entirely appropriate. But the role of government is all the time to seek to balance legitimate interests when they are in any degree of competition or tension. I am not against having a director-general, but further thought is needed. Perhaps a more generous and inclusive definition of the responsibilities of the director-general would be more appropriate.

The other new clause, proposed in Amendment 28D tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, suggests that there should be an annual report on copyright licensing. That is an entirely good idea and I am happy to support it.