. . . . . ~ ~ ° ° ('©MNISSION GREEN PAPER ~' YRtGHT (1) CON (88) 1 7 2

SUBMISSION FROM THE BRITISH COMPUTER SOCIETY

INTEREST OF THE COPYRIGHT COMMIT"rEE The terms of reference of the Copyright Committee include the review of all methods of protecting intellectual property right in software (including computer programs) and its documentation; to liaise with other bodies, develop the British Computer Society's ("BCS") policy and prepare submissions on its subject areas to Government and other bodies where appropriate. The Copyright Committee was instrumental in setting up the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) which led to the enactment of the Copyright (Computer Software) Amendment Act 1985 confirming that there is copyright in computer programs and they are protected under the UK Copyright Act 1956. The Committee has more recently been intimately involved in discussions with the Government, at all levels, on the new UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Bill and, through briefing Emma