British Music Rights (BMR) today welcomed the recommendations made by the UK Intellectual Property Office as part of its review of the Copyright Tribunal, designed to make the Tribunal more efficient and independent.

Emma Pike, Chief Executive of British Music Rights, said: ‘We welcome this report, which addresses our concerns on the operation of the Copyright Tribunal. The Tribunal is essentially a dispute resolution mechanism for commercial disputes and it is therefore critical that it recognises commercial pressures in its handling of negotiations. The recommendations of the UKIPO will help to achieve this.’

Commenting on specific recommendations within the report, Pike said: ‘It is excellent that they have recognised the need for the appropriate composition of the Tribunal  - both in how it is set up and how it is resourced – in particular that relevant industry or economic expertise can be brought in.’

‘Finally, the new procedural rules outlined in this report should make the process more efficient, cost effective, and streamlined for all parties. We are looking forward to swift implementation of the recommendations in cooperation and consultation with stakeholders.’
 
Steve Porter, Chief Executive of the MCPS-PRS Alliance, said:  'The UKIPO review delivers some very sensible recommendations that we are happy to support. In particular it makes clear that the Tribunal should be impartial, operate to a strict timetable and to Civil Procedure Rules with the abolition of lay members.

‘Many of the recommendations are in line with previous Monopolies and Mergers Commission conclusions regarding the Copyright Tribunal and we look forward to working with UKIPO to fully implement the findings.'

For further information, please contact British Music Rights on 020 7306 4446 or email: britishmusic@bmr.org.

Notes to Editors

About British Music Rights

• British Music Rights is the consensus voice of Britain’s composers and songwriters, music publishers and their collecting societies.
• The members of British Music Rights are the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, the Music Publishers Association (MPA), the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Rights Society (PRS).

About the Copyright Tribunal review

• The Director of the Intellectual Property & Innovation Directorate of the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPID) commissioned a review into the operation of the Copyright Tribunal in March 2006.  The review was designed to be independent and the views of a full range of stakeholders was canvassed as part of the process.
• The Copyright Tribunal’s main role is to decide, where the parties cannot agree between themselves, the terms and conditions of licences offered by, or licensing schemes operated by, collective licensing bodies in the copyright and related rights area.
• It has the statutory task of conclusively establishing the facts of a case and of coming to a decision which is reasonable in the light of those facts. Its decisions are appealable to the High Court only on points of law. (Appeals on a point of law against decisions of the Tribunal in Scotland are to the Court of Session.)