My Lords, the amendment would repeal Section 73 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988—in short, the CPDA—and thereby remove the copyright exemption for the retransmission by cable of certain public service broadcasts, known as PSBs. The UK television industry is a great success story. We are world leaders, producing great programmes and formats that are then sold the world over. We want to see the continued success and growth of this vibrant, important sector of the economy.
Section 73 of the CDPA is just one part of the overall framework that supports the availability of TV and investment in television programming in the UK. This framework consists of a variety of rules and regulations that affect the production and availability of public service programming and its relationship with the services or platforms that carry it. These include the obligations on PSBs to offer their content to all relevant platforms, the rules governing payments by broadcasters for technical platform services, and the powers for regulators to compel these services to carry PSB content.
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This is an area where it is important to examine carefully and in some detail the balance between the competing interests and objectives involved before deciding on the appropriate course of action. It is also important to ensure that a change to one part of this framework does not undermine other aspects of the framework or give rise to unintended consequences in the industry. Given the interrelation between Section 73 and many other rules and regulations, it is key that this is looked at in the context of the wider framework.
The Government have been doing just this: considering the role of Section 73 within the wider framework. In answer to the noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, my colleague in the other place, Ed Vaizey, has been leading this work, and DCMS will set out the next steps on this issue when it publishes its approach to digital connectivity, content and consumers, which is planned for publication before the end of July.
It is right and proper that any proposal will be consulted on with the relevant stakeholders and interested parties. This proposed amendment to the CDPA would pre-empt the Government’s approach to this area. Given the complex framework that governs the balance of payments between platforms and broadcasters, taking this action without fully considering or consulting on
the impact could risk unintended and harmful consequences for the industry and have a chilling effect on growth in the sector.
My noble friend Lord Clement-Jones asked if the Government believe that the definition of “cable” as set out by the courts is correct. There is an ongoing litigation in relation to the issue so it would be inappropriate to comment on this specific case. The Government will set out their approach shortly. My noble friend also asked if Section 73 was in breach of EU law. The Government believe that Section 73, properly interpreted, is consistent with EU law. The Court of Justice did not comment on the compatibility in its recent judgment.
On the understanding that Government are actively looking at this issue and will be publishing shortly, I would be grateful if my noble friend would withdraw the amendment.