Clause 1 - Amendment of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988,
Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Bill
10:30 am
Ms Rachel Squire (Dunfermline West, Labour)
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that important point. I appreciate the concerns raised by the Publishers Licensing Society and others, but it would be difficult to define precisely a not-for-profit body. If we chose a definition that specified that the main concern and purpose of the body was the production of such material, it would disadvantage many local community groups such as local churches, the local Women's Institute and others. Those organisations are clearly not-for-profit bodies, and
may have a definite interest in the matter, but would not meet the definition sought by the PLS.
Given the technical safeguards built in to the new clauses in response to concerns expressed by the Publishers Licensing Society, I cannot believe that any genuine not-for-profit body would seek to meet all the requirements in the Bill without having as its prime interest the genuine accessibility of reading material to people with visual impairment. However, if today's proceedings are successful, we may go on to discuss that and other concerns with people who have a clear and rightful interest.