The Institute for Public Policy Research’s (IPPR) recommendations come before a review of intellectual property laws commissioned by Gordon Brown, the Chancellor.

The IPPR says that millions of consumers break the law by copying CDs and DVDs on to their computers and that their rights should be enshrined in a new “private right to copy” law.

Ian Kearns, the IPPR’s deputy director, said: “British copyright law is out of date with consumer practices and technological progress. Giving people a legal ‘private right to copy’ would allow them to copy their CDs and DVDs on to their home computers or phones without breaking the law.

“When it comes to protecting the interests of copyright holders, the emphasis the music industry has put on tackling illegal distribution, and not prosecuting for personal copying, is right. But it is not the music industry’s job to decide what rights consumers have. That is the job of government.”

The music industry is lobbying to extend the term of copyright of sound recordings from 50 years to 95, but the IPPR says that the current 50-year term is sufficient.

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