Gowers Review of Intellectual Property

Overview
The Gowers Review of Intellectual Property was an independent review of U.K. copyright law, focusing on "intellectual property rights." It was conducted from December 2005 to December 2006. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, commissioned Andrew Gowers to lead the review; Gowers had just left a position as editor of the Financial Times when he took up the position on December 2, 2005.

The review coincided with a 2006 survey carried out on behalf of the National Consumer Council, which indicated that over half of British adults infringe copyright law by duplicating and ripping music CDs. Following the review, in January 2008 the government initiated a public consultation period on proposals to legalise personal copying.

The review concluded that the UK's intellectual property system is fundamentally strong but made 54 concrete recommendations for improvements, broadly covering the areas of: strengthening enforcement; providing additional support to business; and striking a balance between protecting intellectual property and allowing free market competition.