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Press Release

Brazil, Egypt and United Kingdom among worst copyright regimes in the world, new consumer study reveals

Press release for immediate release

Brazil, Egypt and United Kingdom among worst copyright regimes in the world, new consumer study reveals

• Latest annual global survey finds intellectual property laws continue to penalise consumers
• Two-thirds of countries failed in at least one area
• Evidence of industry seeking copyright infringement convictions without trial

Consumers International (CI)i, the global federation of consumer organisations, today released its third annual Intellectual Property report, IP Watchlist.ii

The report rates 24 countries from all world regions on how well their intellectual property systems take into consideration the interests of consumers in accessing educational and cultural products such as books and music.

The ten worst-rated countries in reverse order were: Serbia, Solvenia, Armenia, Egypt, Argentina, Belarus, Brazil, United Kingdom, Chile and Thailand

Across 11 different areas such as educational use, library use, and freedom to share and transfer information, there was no country that scored top marks. More than two-thirds of countries received the lowest grade in at least one of those areas.

Developing countries already have amongst the least consumer-friendly laws, yet copyright owner lobbyists seek to make these even tougher: for example, pushing for laws in the Philippines to allow citizens to be convicted of copyright infringement without a trial.

The IP Watchlist analysis highlights four specific questions as examples of where intellectual property laws are failing consumers.  One of these questions asks, "Is there provision to penalise the obstruction of consumers' exercise of user rights?"  Not one country answered "yes".

Jeremy Malcolm, CI IP Programme Coordinator, explains:

'In many countries, consumers who circumvent limitations on their digital devices and products, for example by ripping a DVD onto their digital home entertainment system, are breaking the law and can be fined or worse. But a supplier who places such limitations on a consumer's property so that it can't be used for fair dealing purposes that the law allows, receives no penalty at all. We don't think this is fair.'

The report mentions some of the best and worst practices that were encountered around the world in the development of the survey.

Amongst the best practices is the development of a low-cost disc format in Brazil, that competes on price with pirated products.

Amongst the practices criticised were an Australian government policy that requires educators to pay copyright fees for using material from freely available public websites.

Jeremy Malcolm of CI says:

'By bringing the shortcomings of the world's intellectual property regimes to light, we hope to help create the impetus for their reform. It is encouraging that a number of countries have proposals on the table to make copyright law fairer for consumers. But there are also moves to do the opposite - including a push from industry to convict alleged copyright infringers without a trial. That's why consumers need to remain vigilant about their rights to access educational and cultural products.'

For advance copies of the IPWatchlist 2011 http://bit.ly/hpHcpB

Note to Editors

i Consumers International (CI) is the only independent global campaigning voice for consumers. With over 220 member organisations in 115 countries, we are building a powerful international consumer movement to help protect and empower consumers everywhere. For more information, visit www.consumersinternational.org

ii Consumers International's IP Watchlist is a survey of the copyright laws and enforcement practices of 24 countries. It is part of CI's Access to Knowledge programme - A2Knetwork.org

Over 50 criteria were developed by a panel of IP experts, who weighted each of the criteria to account for its relative importance to consumers. Reports were then completed for the 24 countries in a collaborative effort by CI's members and partners worldwide.

To arrange interviews or receive a copy of the IP Watchlist, please contact: Luke Upchurch +44 796 894 9327 lupchurch@consint.org