Directors UK welcomes high court ruling on music copyright case

Directors UK welcomes the High Court’s 19 June ruling in support of the UK music industry in a Judicial Review case concerning copyright.

The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA), the Musician’s Union (MU) and UK Music brought a case against the UK government challenging their decision to introduce a private copying exception into UK copyright law, arguing that it was unlawful as it failed to provide fair compensation to rights holders, a requirement in European law. The High Court agreed with the music industry and found that the government’s decision not to provide fair compensation was based on inadequate evidence – and that the decision was unlawful. The ruling means that the government will have to reconsider its position.

Directors UK CEO Andrew Chowns said of the outcome:

“We are following with interest the outcome of the Judicial Review brought by the music industry as its application will have implications for other authors and rights owners, including our own Directors UK members working in TV and film. Like musicians, directors want audiences to have greater and easier access to their works, but it is important that any changes to copyright legislation supports fair remuneration to authors to enable them to continue to create future works.

We look forward to working with the government as part of their legislative review to find an outcome which enables both better access for consumers but which protects fair compensation to authors".