Gowers Review of Intellectual Property

The Gowers Review of Intellectual Property was an independent review of UK intellectual property (IP) focusing on UK copyright law that was published in December 2006. The then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown commissioned Andrew Gowers to lead the review in December 2005. The Review was published on 6 December 2006 as part of the Chancellor's annual pre-budget report. The review concludes that the UK's intellectual property system is fundamentally strong but made 54 recommendations for improvements.

The review coincided with a 2006 survey carried out on behalf of the National Consumer Council, which indicated that over half of British adults infringe copyright law by duplicating and ripping music CDs. Following the review, in January 2008 the government initiated a public consultation period on proposals to legalise personal copying.

On November 27, 2006, it was reported that Gowers would not recommend for the copyright term of recorded music to be extended from the current 50 years after the date of recording. The British Phonographic Industry and prominent musicians, such as Cliff Richard and Ian Anderson, had lobbied for an extension to 95 years, matching the length of copyright provided in the United States; other musicians, such as Dave Rowntree of Blur provided counteropinions. The Gowers Review found that the UK, compared with the USA, suffers no apparent impediment to creativity due to this disparity. To coincide with the publication of the review on the 6 December a full-page advertisement entitled Fair play for musicians, was taken in the Financial Times of December 7, stating "We call upon the UK Government to support the extension of copyright on sound recordings", and was signed by over 4,500 musicians, including a few dead ones.

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