Angela Eagle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Eagle on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if the Government will bring forward legislative proposals to increase the penalties for online infringement of copyright.

Mr Edward Vaizey

A consultation was held during summer 2015 on proposals to increase the maximum custodial sentence for online copyright infringement from two to ten years, to harmonise it with the penalty available for physical infringement. A summary of responses was published on 12 January.

Officials at the Intellectual Property Office are now giving consideration to the future direction and timings and will advise Ministers accordingly.