Clause 1 - Penalties for criminal offences
Copyright, etc. and Trade Marks (Offences and Enforcement) Bill
10:30 am
Dr Vincent Cable (Twickenham, Liberal Democrat)
I welcome you to the Chair, Mr. Benton. Given the way in which the Bill was dealt with on Second Reading, it seems that it is fairly uncontroversial and enjoys support throughout the House. However, I do not want to take matters for granted, so I shall recap on the essential points of this substantive clause to give members of the Committee an opportunity to respond if they wish. Unless major discussion points arise from that, I hope that we can proceed quickly.
The key point under the clause is to harmonise trade mark legislation and copyright legislation. By that, I mean legal tidying up, not the introduction of new offences. Copyright theft is a significant offence. It is not a victimless crime, and it has major repercussions. It is theft in a service-based, knowledge-based economy of large sums—about £10 billion a year, but it could be more—and an activity that has a substantial impact on consumers. In many instances, it results in the diminution of quality, but it can involve dangerous products. Examples quoted on Second Reading were of toys and the adulteration of goods that could cause serious injury. Given the disparities in the treatment of different types of intellectual property crime, the most serious aspect is that copyright crime has come to be regarded as a soft option in the criminal community.