A Report on Copyright Legislation is due May 2011

Its time to contact your MP again folks... In May an independent review on The Copyright legislation for Intellectual Property is due. You may recall copyright has always been an important issue in the UK since 1709 as an act for the encouragement of learning via then the new technology of books. The strong '1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act' offers both strong protection and an incentive to be innovative in all fields of human endeavour. Whether it is a writer, an artist painting, a song writer, a composer of music or a performing artist, a designer of computer programmes, a machine designer, an architect etc... Should this Law be diluted in any way then any creative person will lose their insurance of the recognition that they so richly deserve. They made all the efforts and they deserve any income that it generates. Google, to name but one organisation, would like this UK law to be relaxed so that other people could make money by plundering the intellectual property belonging to its creator and for free. The Gower Report 2006 made a recommendation to allow 'Orphan Intellectual Property' that which the copyright owner cannot be traced to be used under some sort of license. This I have no issue with. Regrettably those authors failed to add their names to their work, quite sad really or just plain altruistic? As a practising artist-painter I would like my body of artworks to continue to be protected both in my life-time and for the 75 years after my death. The infringement of copyright has seen the demise of the 'record shop' and the demise of the sales of CD's. Perhaps you could be aware of this and formulate an opinion that supports the continuance of our laws on copyright protection?