Is copying theft?

• BBC Radio 4's Law In Action
• Tuesday 27 March 1600 GMT
• On Radio 4 and online

Who owns ideas in music, the arts, science and business in the digital age?

The internet has changed everything.

You can now get hold of almost any music, video, image or piece of information for free, and without necessarily having the permission of the creator.

Should we regard this as theft? Or does the law need to catch up with the times?

Presenter Clive Coleman debates the future direction of intellectual property law with an invited audience of listeners and a panel of distinguished guests.

The University of London's Queen Mary College, which specialises in intellectual property law, is our host.

On the panel:

• Andrew Gowers, the man in charge of reviewing this area of law for the government and a former editor of The Financial Times;

• Richard Mollet, Public Affairs Director of the music labels' trade association the British Phonographic Industry;

  

• Becky Hogge from the Open Rights Group, which campaigns to free up access to information;

• Tim Hubbard, the scientist who put the map of the human genome on line so others could use it for free;

• Richard Barker, Director General of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Google's fair use
Gowers Review
British Phonographic Industry
Open Rights Group
Human Genome Project
Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
Intellectual property law at QMUL
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