Implications of UK leaving European Union

Since the announcement of the referendum result we have been discussing, like most, the implications of the decision to leave the European Union, will it spell disaster or will be the best option for the UK for the future? 

I signed myself up for an email news summary on the subject from M Brain (http://www.stm-publishing.com/elsevier-launches-brexit-resource-centre/).   The feed is a daily summary of highlights covering UK individually but also giving a global view.  It is a free email subscription and is of general interest, covering many different areas.  What does stand out is that there is very little that is clear in terms of predicting future implications.  It is an evolving situation and one we are keen to keep a close eye on here at BIR. 

I spoke to one writer for BIR, Paul Pedley, who is an expert on everything copyright running valuable copyright training courses, on what potential implications there would be for copyright seeing as law on this is tied closely with Europe.  He sent me the following facts reviewing the impact of Brexit on copyright which are also highlighted in his training:

• ·      The process won’t start until Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty has been triggered
• ·      Brexit is unlikely to happen until 2019/2020
• ·      Existing directives which have been implemented into UK law will continue to have effect
• ·      The Westminster Parliament will have priorities other than copyright to contend with
• ·      There won’t be major changes occurring quickly
• ·      Once Brexit has taken place, UK judges wouldn’t have to follow EU case law which could lead to new judge-based law
• ·      Could lead to breakup of the UK, with Scotland needing to develop its own IP law
• ·      It is always possible that UK copyright law could become more onerous for users as a way of encouraging people to do business in the UK based on the strength of its copyright law (from a rights holder point of view).
• ·      In the long run, could mean less and less harmonization, with all the attendant bureaucratic implications that this would involve

To keep up to date with what might happen in regards to Brexit and those laws intertwined with European law the following link may be useful http://www.trethowans.com/site/library/legalnews/what-does-brexit-mean-for-uk-law.

We would be keen to hear comments or interested to hear from anyone who experiencing consequences (good or bad) in their area as they are happening.  For the moment thanks to Paul for his comments in this area.