British Library CEO advises ministers on intellectual property

Lynne Brindley, the CEO of the British Library, has been appointed to the UK’s Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property (SABIP). This group was set up following a recommendation of the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property and will give government ministers strategic advice on intellectual property issues.

‘I am honoured to have been selected to sit on the board of SABIP and look forward to working together with the other members to provide strategic counsel to the government,’ said Brindley. ‘I believe copyright is critical to a healthy creative industry. We need to find the right balance on intellectual property in order to support an innovative knowledge economy.’

She continued: ‘The British Library has played a key role in the debate on copyright in the digital age and this is something I continue to take a personal interest in. I am concerned that the shift from print to digital publishing is undermining the traditional balance at the heart of copyright in ways that could make it harder for researchers to access and use information.’

SABIP is chaired by Joly Dixon. It also includes: Cathy Garner, chief executive of Manchester Knowledge Capital; John Pickering, member of the Competition Appeals Tribunal and business consultant; Jonathan Spencer, former director general at the Departments of Trade and Industry and Constitutional Affairs and member of the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority; and Iain Wilcock - founder and deputy managing director of Quester Capital, a healthcare investment company.