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Copyright infringement notification system

Secondary legislation on sharing the costs of the Digital Economy Act’s measures to tackle online copyright infringement laid in Parliament.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Secondary legislation on sharing the costs of the Digital Economy Act’s measures to tackle online copyright infringement has been laid in Parliament.

“The Digital Economy Act sets out to protect our creative economy from online copyright infringement, which industry estimates costs them £400 million a year,” said Communications Minister Ed Vaizey.

“We are introducing a system of mass notification to warn people about the unlawfulness of copyright infringement, explain the harm it does and point them toward legitimate content.

These measures are expected to benefit industry by around £200 million a year and as rights holders will be the main beneficiaries, we believe our decision on costs is fair to everyone.”

In September 2010 the Government announced that under the new legislation consumer notifications and appeals would be borne by rights holder and and internet service providers (ISPs) at a ratio of 75:25 respectively.

Update: August 2011

We have published a revised draft statutory instrument alongside other documents laying out the implementation of the Digital Economy Act. 

Further information

Published 23 July 2012