Supporting the creative economy : third report of session 2013-14, Vol. 1: Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence

This report warns that the extraordinary success of the UK's creative industries may be jeopardised by any dilution of intellectual property rights and the failure to tackle online piracy.

The Committee also strongly condemns the failure of Google in particular to tackle access of copyright infringing websites through its search engine.

Such illegal piracy, combined with proposals arising from the Hargreaves review to introduce copyright exceptions, and a failure to strengthen copyright enforcement as envisaged by the Digital Economy Act 2010, together threaten the livelihoods of the individuals and industries that contribute over GBP36 billion annually to the UK economy.

Also, the Olympics No Marketing Rights scheme is excessively restrictive and is preventing British creative companies from realising the benefits they deserve from the Olympic legacy. The Committee calls for: a central champion of Intellectual Property in Government to promote and protect the interests of UK intellectual property; the maximum penalty for serious online IP theft to be increased to 10 years imprisonment, in line with the punishment for such offences in the physical world; more evidence and scrutiny before any exceptions to copyright such as those suggested by Hargreaves are applied; redoubled efforts to ensure that the video games tax credit is approved by the European Commission and introduced as soon as possible; reforms to the income tax and tax reliefs systems to recognise adequately the freelance nature of much creative work; greater recognition of the importance of arts subjects in the curriculum.