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Among its findings was that a right to private copying should be enshrined into UK law and that libraries should be given greater freedonm of access to digital works for archival purposes.

'We are particularly pleased that the Gowers Review recommends allowing private copying for research and copying for preservation reasons by libraries to cover all forms of content,' said Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive of the British Library. 'It has also made positive recommendations around dealing with orphan works [where the copyright holder is hard to find]. And we look forward to playing a key role in the Strategic Advisory Board for IP policy (SABIP).'

Brindley had previously launched, at the opening of the Labour Party Conference in September, an Intellectual Property Manifesto, highlighting the threat posed to the current copyright rules enjoyed by libraries.

While aspects of the Gowers review - such as private copying for research purposes and archive rights for research insitutions - met main points of this manifesto, other areas were not fully covered, she noted.

When it came to 'Fair Dealing' [copying only parts of a work], Brindley noted that there are very few specific recommendations about how fair dealing exceptions should be carried forward in the digital age.

'We are delighted that the Gowers Review recommends a simplified complaints procedure in regard to DRMs, but we are however concerned that the issue of contracts undermining copyright law has not been specifically addressed and look forward to engaging further on this issue with Government,' she said.

Also, on the issue of unpublished works (perhaps an early work by a subsequently famous author, for example) - a special case for cultural curation - the review made no reference. 'The British Library's IP Manifesto recommends the length of copyright term for unpublished works should be retrospectively brought in line with other terms - life plus 70 years,' said Brindley. 'This remains an area that we look forward to discussing in detail with SABIP.'