UK Government abandons private copying exception

The private copying exception was short lived in the UK. The 2014 measure was challenged in a judicial review proceeding by the music industry (including UK Music, and the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors), and in June of this year the High Court found that the evidence relied upon by the government to reach its conclusion on private copying was inadequate. 

Now, the government has - according to Ars Technica - thrown in the towel on the whole thing, abandoning the private copying exception for the time being and thus making it once again illegal to make backup copies of digital music owned, including uploading that music to the cloud. 

This is problematic because it makes a behaviour that is by all standards “normal” illegal, with the assumption that the old policy that essentially disregarded the current law will come back into place. This means that people who rip their music, make a backup or upload it to the cloud are unlikely to be prosecuted for it anytime soon. 

The main argument put forward by the music industry against the government’s implementation of the private copying exception was that it did not provide for any compensation whatsoever to rights holders, whilst legalising behaviour that the industry would have liked to have seen in some way monetised. 

Considering the time, effort and money that was invested in making the private copying exception happen, this is a pretty disappointing outcome for all parties involved, with consumers being the clear losers as it makes close to impossible for them to stick to the letter of the law. 

(Andrea Leonelli)