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2 responses to “Who runs the UK? ‘Tories, Lib Dems and Google’ says Harman # Has anyone got a transcript of this?”

1. 2012/07/04

   alecm

   http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2012/07/03/harriet-harman-s-speech-to-the-british-recorded-music-indust

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2. 2012/07/04

   alecm

   And that brings me to intellectual property. Which is about protecting investment.

   To sustain the music industry in the digital age we need innovation and new business models.

   And we need effective copyright protection that works for the digital age. So if you create something, it is yours: to license for others to use, to sell or give away.

   And this is the basis for all the industry including: investors, entrepreneurs, managers and marketers, as well as the sound engineers and session musicians.

   The collection of royalties makes money available for investing in new talent.

   The BPI’s figures estimate the record industry reinvests over 20 per cent of its revenue in developing new talent.

   You can’t run a business effectively if the products you want to sell don’t generate revenue because they are downloaded for free. Copyright infringement makes it much harder to run a business, especially if you are a small to medium sized business, as so many are in the music industry.

   And we need to recognise that protection of intellectual property is not just a private matter – between the rights holder and the rights user. It’s about the public interest. And that’s why we need to see enforcement better coordinated and strengthened. The way it stands today, the framework is just not good enough and that includes the Intellectual Property Office.

   Take the Environment Agency. It issues licenses for discharging waste of potential pollutants. But if that license is breached they don’t just stand back and say to the landowner whose land is damaged, ‘you go to court’ – the Environment Agency itself takes it to court.

   It clearly is in the public interest to have intellectual property and copyright protected. Trading standards officers enforce it in the public interest. But, what about leadership – and co-ordination – at national level?

   Should we completely recast the role of the IPO and turn it into a champion for protecting and enforcing precious copyright? It should not be agnostic about copyright breach – it should lead action against it.

   There need be no apology for protecting copyright. It is in the public interest, and as the means of distribution transform the challenges to copyright protection change.

   In the US, they have an Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator – an IP czar – appointed by President Obama. Someone to make sure all the federal agencies work together to protect copyright, and to protect ‘the ingenuity and creativity of Americans’.

   Perhaps we need an institutional shake-up to reflect that.

   We all know that piracy is a big issue and a big problem for music and other creative industries online.

   We all know that while technology creates brilliant new opportunities it also creates new problems.

   And we all know that this debate has been going on for far too long enough and needs to be brought to a conclusion.

   The Government has got to get a move on and stop dragging its feet to strike the right balance between the content industries, including music, and the technology companies to create a climate where innovation can flourish while copyright is protected.

   I’ve had discussions with both, I know the arguments from both sides.

   Google and other technology companies need to do more with the content creators to better signpost legitimate search and block illegal sites. Search engines like Google are highly trusted, and there’s no way of telling, as an average consumer, what is an illegal site. They could also do more to stifle the income of pirate websites by stopping advertising on illegal sites.

   And I want to see the Government getting on with implementing Labour’s Digital Economy Act. And while I’m pleased that Ofcom published their code for consultation last week – it will still be 2014 before any warning letters are sent out.

   The Government has failed to show leadership.

   Despite them being pressed on this, including by us, they still haven’t implemented the Digital Economy Act under a clear timetable, lead and set a deadline for agreement in the industry for site blocking, search engine responsibility and digital advertising, or made it clear that if there’s no agreement, this will be legislated for in the Communications Bill.

   I understand there’s a lot of controversy around about how the notification letters should be worded, and the ISPs and consumer groups have concerns about people being cut off. But there is a common sense way through, which means people don’t have their services cut off immediately and makes sure piracy does not go on unchecked. Letters should inform, and warn.

   And all of this should have been set out in the Green Paper which we were promised at the beginning of this year and now won’t appear.

   Number Ten can’t stand up to Google and Jeremy Hunt is incapable of standing up to Number Ten.

   When we were in Government, we did everything we could to support music and the arts, from supporting creativity in schools to arts funding to tax credits to legislating for the Digital Economy Act.

   And where this Government does the right thing, we will support them, to support you. When the plug is being pulled on DCMS by the education department or the Treasury, we will back DCMS up.

   When they’re doing the right thing.

   But when they’re not, we’ll hold them to account. We will scrutinize and we will criticize. And sadly, there is much to criticize.

   This Government has slashed funding for the Arts Council and for local government, which support music across the country. This Government has cut funding for school music, which supported the musicians of the future. You shouldn’t only have access to music because your parents have got the money to finance it, or because you go to a school with lavish private facilities. Music should be for everyone – for the many, not the few.

   This Government has dragged its feet unforgivably on implementing the Digital Economy Act. It’s standing up for the wrong people – for powerful interests and not hardworking musicians, giving in to lobbying and not giving support to our music industry.

   This Government has abandoned the Green Paper. It might even abandon the DCMS, at a time when the creative industries need a stronger voice, not to be silenced.

   This Government is out of touch. It doesn’t understand music or the arts. Understanding music is not about having a box at the opera but about having the right policies to support music, from school music to stadium tour. It’s about standing up for music across the country and across all levels of government.

   But to this Government, music is an afterthought.

   Especially at the moment. The Government is too focused on protecting a lame duck Secretary of State. It is not focused on jobs and growth for the future, or on intellectual property, or on the Communications Bill. You deserve better.

   And I want to conclude by assuring you of my personal commitment to this portfolio and my belief in the importance of music and the creative industries to individuals and to this country.

   Labour has always seen itself as the party of Bread and Roses – and that’s what music is.

   It’s a belief is shared by Ed Miliband, which is why he asked me, as his deputy, to do the job.

   Even if it looks like Jeremy Hunt is not in it for the long term, I am.

   And I, and my team, look forward to working with you.

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