PA hails copyright legal first

28.07.11 | Charlotte Williams - The Bookseller

A legal case ruling that an internet service provider (ISP) must block access to a copyright-infringing website has been hailed by the Publishers Association as setting a legal precent to protect copyright.
A High Court judgment today (28th July) ruled BT must outlaw access to Newzbinz 2, a members-only site that links to pirated material. The PA had supported the case, brought by the Motion Picture Association (MPA), by providing a witness statement, and chief executive Richard Mollet called it "a clear statement that online copyright infringement will not be tolerated in the UK".
In the case of books, 201 of the 268 records from the site that were analysed by the MPA related to commercially available content. Of the remaining 67 records, 48 related to content that is likely to be protected by copyright.
Mollet added it sent a "strong and clear message" to both copyright-infringing sites as well as highlighting to ISPs that "they have a major responsibility and role to play in preventing infringement".
Mollet anticipates the case, which sets a legal precedent, will mean ISPs will take on more responsibility for protecting copyright in the future: "We look forward to working closely with ISPs in future to agree on ways of safeguarding creative content and promoting legitimate downloading services.
"Hopefully there should be far less need to go through the courts simply to uphold existing laws on copyright infringement in this country."