Patently right

29 August 2009

In contrast to Gordon Brown’s dull and worthy holiday working as a volunteer on community projects in his constituency, there is something rather refreshing about Lord Mandelson’s taste for extravagant vacations on Corfu in the company of wealthy moguls.

That said, wouldn’t it be nice if the stars of stage and screen, so vociferous when defending their own intellectual property, would acknowledge that other industries have theirs too? The irony about the campaign against internet piracy is that many actors and pop stars have campaigned for pharmaceutical companies to be denied the right to protect their patents on Aids drugs. Bono, Bob Geldof and Annie Lennox, among others, have all attacked what they regard as a greedy industry for being slow to release cheaper, generic versions of Aids drugs on to developing world markets. Many celebrities from the arts world have joined the bandwagon.

The campaign for generic Aids drugs misses a point: that medicines are fantastically expensive to produce, putting even the budget of a Hollywood blockbuster in the shade. Much as the world needs Aids drugs, if pharmaceutical companies are then forbidden from enforcing patents, they will be unable to make a return. If investors do not receive a return they will not invest, and there will be no new Aids drugs, generic or not.

The creative industries are not renowned for reasoned interventions on political issues, but this is one matter on which celebrities might just be able to make a connection. Without the right to defend intellectual property, we will end up stifling any creations of value.