News24, Wed, 12 Jan 2018 17:20:04A new UK copyright law has been passed which will make it a criminal offence for anyone to make, distribute or exploit any copyright work without permission.
The new law was passed by the UK Parliament on Monday, the first day of the parliamentary session.
In a press release from the Ministry of Justice, it states that “the Act is designed to ensure that anyone making or distributing an unauthorised use of a copyright work, or exploiting it, is liable to criminal prosecution”.
The law does not apply to artists, musicians or authors who have signed a non-disclosure agreement with a publisher, and who have not been found guilty in a court of law.
It also makes it a crime to “unlawfully and unlawfully make, publish, distribute, or exploit a copyright or any other subject-matter” without permission from the copyright holder.
The UK government has stated that it does not believe that “an unauthorized use” of a copyrighted work is copyright infringement, and has issued a statement stating that “such uses are covered by the law, and therefore illegal”.
The new UK law will also apply to any person or organisation that has been found in breach of the copyright law.
However, it is not clear whether the new law will apply to the likes of Wap, who have been found to have violated the law by “unauthorising use” on more than 200 songs.
Wap’s UK release, “Wap,” was removed from Spotify in August after it was discovered to have been used illegally in a series of music videos.
A group of artists and artists’ rights groups, including those from Radiohead, the Black Keys and Radiohead’s former lead singer Thom Yorke, demanded an end to Wap’s music, which was released in September.
The group, which includes the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Demand Progress and Public Knowledge, also demanded the music be re-released on Spotify.
The MPAA was among those who signed a letter to Spotify last month, calling for the music to be returned.
Spotify responded with a statement saying that it had removed Wap and “will continue to enforce our copyright laws in line with our obligations under EU law.”
A Spotify spokesperson said that the company had taken steps to remove the “inappropriate” music, but did not specify whether it had acted under the EU law.