Section 73 Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988
The Intellectual Property Office is inviting comments on transitional arrangements following the repeal of Section 73 (cable retransmission).
Following the Balance of Payments consultation carried out by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in 2015, the government decided to repeal Section 73 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998 (CDPA). Section 73 provides that the retransmission of the Public Service Broadcasters’ (PSBs) core channels (all BBC Channels, ITV1, and Channel 4 and 5’s core channels) via cable is exempt from copyright fees.
The DCMS consultation examined the relationship between platforms and PSBs. However, the government recognises that a new rights market will emerge as a result of the repeal of Section 73. This means that relationships between PSBs, cable providers and rights holders will change when Section 73 is repealed. As a result of the outcome of the DCMS consultation, this further consultation is needed to assess:
- the potential future rights market
- how copyright owners (e.g. scriptwriters, performers) in any underlying content in cable retransmissions may choose to administer their rights
- whether transitional periods are required to help the market adapt to new licensing structures