The Newspaper Society submission concentrates on three central issues: barriers to growth in the creative industries, VAT and proposals to amend UK copyright law.
The main points of the NS response:
• Ownership regulation: the Government’s communications review and any new Communications Bill must facilitate local and regional media companies’ innovation and development;
• Future of Press Regulation: the NS and regional and local newspaper publishers oppose any special press laws or state controls over the press;
• Interaction of Government Departments: it is important that DCMS and BIS share intelligence on our sector and recognise its contribution to the UK economy;
• Taxation: zero rate VAT on the printed word must be maintained;
• Hargreaves Review: publishers must be able to rely on strong and effective protection of IP rights to ensure that they are properly rewarded for quality content, and to choose how they market their IP assets;
• Enterprise & Regulatory Reform Bill: any changes to the copyright framework should be subject to full Parliamentary scrutiny; secondary legislation is not an appropriate vehicle.
