Intellectual property and creative industries policy in the UK

This chapter charts the relationship between intellectual property (IP) policy and the Creative Industries discourse, first promulgated by New Labour in the 1990s. Two main critiques of the creative industries concept relate to: (1) the boundaries of its definition; and (2) the precise role of IP as an economic driver for diverse industries comprised of many different activities. Copyright protection was initially strongly linked to the growth of the creative industries as a bulwark against illegal copying. Empirical research, primarily from law and economics, has led to re-examination of copyright’s role as a creative incentive. The relationship between IP and creative industries activity has also gained additional complexity with digitalisation. The policy landscape is now occupied by diverse stakeholders with different perspectives on the appropriate balance for copyright protection, for example, to enable new kinds of digital follow-on creativity.