This is my MP, Sir John Butterfill’s (Conservative, Bournemouth West), response to this e-mail.

Dear Mr Renton,

Thank you for your email about the Digital Economy Bill.

I note the various concerns you have expressed which are shared by the Conservative Party and can assure you that the Conservative spokesman for Culture, Media and Sport has taken them up with the Government. The Government have said that they will bring forward some changes for the Report Stage of the Bill and we shall be examining them closely to ensure that they address these concerns.

My Party and I are keen to move amendments that address the problem of people stripping out identifying information from a digital image. We want to clamp down on this and ensure that the Bill does not encourage such activities. We also want to see in the legislation specific requirements for a search for the rights holder and a system in place if that rights holder comes forward at a later date. In no way should this Bill actually harm content creators.

I am very hopeful that we can get this right, as sorting out the current system will unlock a whole host of content that can be used for the public good. I really believe that the BBC and British Library archives for instance will be much easier to access under these proposals.

Yours sincerely,

John Butterfill