A group representing the UK's creative industries today called for the UK government to intervene to prevent the spread of illegal file-sharing of copyrighted content such as music and film.

The group, a loose coalition that includes The British Phonographic Industry and the Film Distributors' Association, as well as trades unions such as the National Union of Journalists and the Musicians' Union, issued a joint statement following a meeting in London on May 12.

The statement said: "The creative industries represent one of the most innovative and widely appreciated sectors of the UK economy, generating output that not only creates £112.5 billion in revenue but also entertains millions of people. The Government has estimated its contribution to UK GDP as being 8 per cent."

It continues: "We welcome Government’s recognition that a major threat to the success of the industry is in the form of illegal online peer-to-peer file-sharing of content. In 2007, an estimated 98 million illegal downloads of films and more than a billion illegal downloads of music took place in the UK, whilst it is believed that 6 million people illegally file-share regularly. The impact of this on the economic output of the creative industries, investment opportunities and jobs in the sector is a serious one. A report by Europe Economics released at the end of 2008 concluded that up to 800,000 jobs in the creative industries are under threat from challenges including internet piracy and illegal P2P file-sharing."

The statement stops short, however, of calling on the government to monitor internet traffic directly. Instead, it appears to suggest that the government should require internet service providers to assume responsibility for further intervention with individual file-sharers.

"We support early indications of Government’s thinking that call on ISPs to send warning notices to offenders as a first stage of tackling the problem. We strongly recommend an additional option whereby, where multiple educational warnings are ignored by consumers, a graduated series of technical solutions are used which prevent further illegal activity, with a clear appeals process in place to protect consumers."

The conference's proposals are designed to feed in to the UK government's nascent Digital Britain strategy, which aims to make the most of Britain's traditional creative strengths in content creation.

The UK is the latest European country to attempt to formulate a strategy to combat illegal file-sharing over the internet.

At the end of April, France became the first country in the world to launch an internet police agency. The new "creation and internet law", due to take effect in the autumn, will track people who download entertainment without paying, with a view to revoking their internet access rights.

The law has come in for harsh criticism in France, a fact reflected in the careful wording of today's London document.

Read the full joint policy statement here

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