The U.K.’s copyright law is the most unfavorable to consumers of ...

Philippines, South Korea, Spain, Thailand and the U.S. Britain was “the worst, by far” on balancing the interests of consumers and copyright owners, outdoing the emerging economies of Thailand and Argentina to last place, the group said. Topping the list were India, South Korea and China, in “odd company” with the U.S. at fourth place, it said. The U.S. regularly criticizes those three Asian countries as failing to protect IP but applies a double standard to its own copyright system, the organization said. It said it rated as the worst national systems those that don’t take advantage of pro-consumer flexibilities in international law. No country surveyed took enough account of consumer interests concerning freedom of access to and use of content through blogs, online video-sharing, wiki entries and other avenues; freedom to share and transfer information and entertainment through public domain and freely licensed materials; and enforcement, the group said. But “best practices” are emerging, it said. Spain requires holders of works covered by technical protection measures to give consumers a way to enjoy them for legal purposes, the group said. The U.S. supports consumer interests through its broad “fair use” exception to copyright, and Australia has legalized shifting across time, space and format, it said. Consumers International called its survey a response to the USTR Special 301 report, which it said grades countries on how closely they follow U.S. standards of IP protection and enforcement regardless of the interests of consumers or of national circumstances. The group said it hopes the research will balance the “contention of multinational rightsholders” that “anything less than the highest levels of copyright protection is to be associated with piracy and criminality.” The U.K.’s dismal standing is ironic for the country that developed copyright law, said Consumer Focus and the Open Rights Group. Millions of Britons are “needlessly criminalized” by outdated IP laws that, for instance, forbid ripping a CD onto a personal computer or iPod, they said. The groups asked the government to introduce a broad fair-use exception that could adapt to new technology. They said they don’t condone piracy, but file-sharing is the “inevitable consequence” of the digital market’s failing to meet consumer demand and needs. A fair-use exception would also cover user-generated content where material is reworked for new, noncommercial purposes, they said. The content has an increasingly high social value for the “YouTube generation,” they added.