Supporting the Creative Economy

Nigel Adams Excerpts

Thursday 13th February 2014 Westminster Hall

[Nigel Adams (Selby and Ainsty) (Con)]

I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Maldon (Mr Whittingdale) on his work as Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, and on a brilliant and powerful speech on the need for Government to provide adequate support to our creative industries. I shall keep my remarks brief, because many Members want to speak.

Although the UK’s creative industries, as we have heard, enjoy a pre-eminent position in the world, we must not be complacent. For that reason, I welcome many of the recommendations made by the Select Committee in its excellent report. In particular, I welcome suggestions that the Intellectual Property Office should become a more powerful champion for the creative industries and play a greater role in educating consumers on the value of intellectual property. The importance of a strong and secure rights regime to the success of our creative industries should not be underestimated. Where is the incentive, for example, for a songwriter, composer, or software developer to create content if their work can effectively be stolen online?

I note that the Government, in their response to the Committee’s report, provide evidence that many people still remain unsure about the legal status of the sites they access. I agree that that evidence is very clear. In fact, Ofcom commissioned research on copyright infringement that suggested that almost half of all users cannot confidently identify whether the online content that they download, stream or share is legal. In a YouGov survey last year, more than 2,000 UK adults were asked to differentiate illegal websites from legitimate retail sites; more than a third of parents were unable to spot pirate websites for music, film and TV content.

I am delighted that the Prime Minister has shown great interest in the issue and has appointed an IP adviser, my hon. Friend the Member for Hove (Mike Weatherley).

[Mrs Hodgson]

Jolly good man.

[Nigel Adams]

Yes, he is a jolly good chap.

[Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Lab)]

Is he here?

[Nigel Adams]

I cannot spot him in the Chamber today, but I understand that he has a meeting with representatives of the music industry, so I am sure that he is doing great work on our behalf.

There is much important work going on to improve awareness of the importance of IP. I welcome the recent launch of a joint IPO and UK Music game, which educates young people about copyright in a fun and interesting way. I understand that the IPO’s karaoke shower is continuing its live tour of the UK and promoting the importance of IP, and that is very welcome. Through the Alliance for Intellectual Property, the industry has developed a content map, which allows users to check which services are licensed. Signposting and nudging consumers in the right direction is sensible, but we need further action to ensure that our creators are properly rewarded.

Those are all positive steps forward, but education will not tackle illegal content if it is not accompanied by mechanisms to ensure that consumers are able to make the right choices about where to get their content. Earlier this week, I and other colleagues here today were presented with a proposal from PRS for Music for an IP traffic light system for online content. That system would provide consumers with clear and visible indicators that would allow them to determine easily whether a website provided illegal or legal content before they entered the site. The merits of such a system are clear, and importantly, it would tackle the root of the problem, which is consumer confusion, while cutting off the traffic to illegal sites, and the revenues collected from advertising on them. In fact, in a survey by Harris, 91% of online downloaders said that they would welcome the introduction of a traffic light system to aid understanding of which sites were legal.

I encourage technology companies to work more closely with the creative industries to find a way of delivering such a system. The company whiteBULLET, which received a grant from the Intellectual Property Office, has being doing good work in that space, but more support should be encouraged. A signal today from our excellent Minister that he backs the principle behind the traffic light system, along with a commitment to support it going forward, would be welcome.