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Digital rights management meaning

What does Digital rights management mean?
Digital rights management (DRM) describes the technical tools and access controls used by copyright owners and licensees to manage, monitor and protect the use of digital content (for example, encryption, licence keys, region coding, watermarking and usage tracking on software, e‑books, music, video and streaming services). In legal analysis across the UK and Ireland, DRM is a descriptive term; legislation instead refers to technological protection measures (TPMs) and rights management information (RMI). Under UK law (Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended) and Irish law implementing the EU InfoSoc Directive, anti-circumvention rules prohibit bypassing TPMs and dealing in circumvention devices or services, attracting civil remedies and, in some contexts, criminal liability. Removing or altering RMI (such as identifiers or metadata) is also prohibited where it facilitates infringement. These regimes operate alongside copyright exceptions and limitations, which may permit limited lawful uses despite DRM. In practice, DRM features in licensing and distribution agreements, platform terms of use, and compliance policies. Usage and legal effect are broadly consistent across England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (to which the CDPA applies), and in Ireland, although procedures and remedies follow the forum’s civil and criminal process.
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View the related Checklists about Digital rights management

CHECKLISTS
B2B product safety and liability contracting: UK drafting checklist—standards, warranties/indemnities, insurance, audits, data retention, recalls, governing law/jurisdiction, and post‑Brexit EU issues

This checklist This checklist highlights the principal issues to address when preparing contractual terms for business to business agreements on product safety and liability. See Practice Note: Product liability risk management for producers for guidance on controlling risk ahead of new supply arrangements, including carrying out appropriate due diligence on other relevant businesses in the supply chain. Identify all applicable laws (eg Sale of Goods Act 1979, Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994, Consumer Protection Act 1987, General Product Safety Regulations 2005, SI 2005/1803, Consumer Rights Act 2015 and Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024), as well as any standards and codes of practice that govern the products. Take into account specific legislation for the manufacture, import and sale of particular goods such as fireworks, cosmetics, toys, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, personal protective equipment (PPE), gas appliances, food and animal feed, and automotive. See Practice Notes: Consumer protection for defective or dangerous products—legal bases, Product liability and defective products and General Product Safety Regulations...

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CHECKLISTS
UK product safety management and recall planning: legal and compliance checklist (OPSS guidance; PAS 7100:2022/PAS 7050:2022; UKCA/CE/UKNI)

This Checklist This Checklist outlines the principal points a business should weigh up when confronting a product safety issue. It explains what to build into systems for managing product liability exposure in this field, with reference to the Code of Practice on Product recalls and other corrective actions (PAS 7100:2022). Pinpoint all applicable laws (eg Sale of Goods Act 1979, Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994, Consumer Protection Act 1987, General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (GPSR 2005), SI 2005/1803, Consumer Rights Act 2015, Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024), standards, and codes of practice (eg Code of Practice on Product recalls and other corrective actions (PAS 7100:2022) and Code of Practice on Bringing Safe Products to the Market (PAS 7050:2022)) that govern the products. See Practice Notes: Consumer protection for defective or dangerous products—legal bases, Product liability and defective products and General Product Safety Regulations 2005—Offences. Also, identify industry best practice (eg by trade associations) and consider putting it into effect. Take...

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NEWS
Dispute Resolution Weekly: CPRC reforms, junior advocacy guidance, cryptoasset injunctions, solicitor-client costs/CFA rulings, disclosure and appeals updates, consultations and key dates (England and Wales), 17 July 2025

In this issue Key DR developments Claims and remedies Costs and funding Litigation Applications—general Evidence and disclosure Appeals New content Dates for your diary Useful information Daily and weekly news alerts Key DR developments CPR Committee minutes Minutes of the CPR Committee meeting—6 June 2025: The Civil Procedure Rule Committee met on 6 June 2025 in a hybrid session at The Rolls Building (Royal Courts of Justice) and via video conference. The minutes confirm a forthcoming CPR 51 pilot enabling non-parties to obtain court documents, arising from the Supreme Court ruling in Cape Intermediate Holdings Ltd v Dring [2019] UKSC 38. They also record approved amendments to the e‑working pilot, progressing towards a permanent electronic filing system as part of ongoing court modernisation. Further topics included summary assessment of costs, arbitration updates, disclosure, civil restraint orders, closed material procedures, judicial review reforms for infrastructure projects, whiplash reforms, digital services and other procedural...

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NEWS
UK tax weekly: ScottishPower settlement payments deductible; Bluecrest salaried members rules remitted; GDPR SARs in tax enquiries; Russia/Belarus double tax treaties suspended; HMRC MTD updates—6 February 2025

In this issue: Companies and corporation tax Employment taxes Taxes management and litigation International Individuals Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Companies and corporation tax Court of Appeal holds that payments in settlement of regulatory breaches were tax deductible (ScottishPower v HMRC) As noted in Tax weekly highlights—23 January 2025, the Court of Appeal has concluded that consumer redress paid by ScottishPower to resolve regulatory investigations is deductible for corporation tax, reversing the outcomes reached by both the First-tier Tax Tribunal (FTT) and the Upper Tribunal (UT). On the facts, the Court determined these sums were not fines or penalties and so the rule in McKnight (HM Inspector of Taxes) v Sheppard, which renders fines and penalties non-deductible, did not apply. The Court also dismissed the presence of any broader principle, in this context, that a payment must follow the tax treatment of...

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NEWS
UK Public Law weekly update—18 April 2024: case law Q1 2024, Brexit SIs, Procurement Act guidance, equality/human rights, data protection and subsidy control

In this issue: Public Law case law quarterly Brexit SIs Post-Brexit transition guidance Constitutional and administrative law Equality and human rights Information law Subsidy control and State aid Public procurement Management and strategic planning Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers New Q&A Useful information Public Law case law quarterly Public Law case law quarterly—Q1 2024 The Lexis+® Public Law team’s quarterly round-up presents key decisions and commentary from the last quarter. This issue features: a Court of Appeal ruling examining how redaction aligns with the duty of candour in judicial review; a Scottish judgment on when courts may refuse to give effect to a statutory provision; and a significant procurement case clarifying the threshold of ‘sufficiently serious’. See News Analysis: Public Law case law quarterly—Q1 2024... Brexit SIs Pressure Equipment (Safety) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 SI 2024/490: Made under...

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PRACTICE NOTES
UK photographic copyright: scope, originality and infringement in Temple Island (Red Bus), the idea/expression boundary, digital manipulation, and implications for AI-generated images

The Red Bus case, Temple Island Collections v New English Teas, was determined in what was then the Patents County Court (PCC) in January 2012, and it engages with the scope and reach of photographic copyright. The judgment has been the focus of considerable discussion, alongside a degree of criticism, in particular, because it appears to call into doubt a cardinal proposition of copyright law: that there is no copyright in an idea. Temple Island therefore squarely addresses the ambit of copyright protection. Although the PCC (now known as the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court) was an 'inferior' forum whose decisions carried no binding force on higher courts, copyright disputes that proceed all the way to a full trial are comparatively uncommon, and for that reason this case has been notably influential. Factual background Temple Island Collections (TIC) specialises in the design, manufacture and supply of souvenir gift items bearing a British theme. In 2010, TIC commenced copyright infringement proceedings in the PCC against New English Teas (NET). NET...

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PRACTICE NOTES
Digital rights management in the UK: CDPA 1988 anti-circumvention, technological measures, permitted acts and enforcement

This Practice Note outlines the legal and practical considerations relevant to digital rights management (DRM), and examines how far technical tools and other safeguards can be deployed by rights holders to protect and administer their digital works lawfully and effectively in practice. It also sets out the categories of offences that may arise where technological protection measures are bypassed or where rights management information is abused in any context. What is digital rights management? DRM describes the technical mechanisms used by copyright owners of digital material to label, monitor and secure their assets. These controls are applied to block unauthorised copying, for instance by using encryption, ensuring that only approved software and permitted users can open a given digital file where appropriate. DRM also serves to identify content and to manage its distribution to consumers, eg by tracking how often a work is accessed for the purpose of calculating the royalties payable lawfully, or to support business models such as online music subscription services. For example, the video...

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PRACTICE NOTES
Residential conveyancing pre-contract enquiries in England and Wales: duties of disclosure, standard and additional enquiries, reliance and misrepresentation, and DMCCA 2024 consumer protection considerations

This Practice Note examines enquiries before contract—also referred to as pre-contract enquiries, preliminary enquiries or standard enquiries—within residential conveyancing transactions. It proceeds on the basis that the parties have adopted the Law Society Conveyancing Protocol (2019) (the Protocol) and that the buyer’s conveyancer is additionally acting for a lender in line with the UK Finance Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook (the UKFML Handbook) or the Building Societies Association Mortgage Instructions (the BSA Instructions). See Practice Notes: The Law Society’s Conveyancing Protocol and Lenders' instructions—the UK Finance Mortgage Lenders' Handbook and the Building Societies Association Mortgage Instructions. Why raise enquiries? At common law, the guiding doctrine is ‘caveat emptor’—‘let the buyer beware’—so a seller has only a limited duty to disclose information about the property. It is principally for the buyer to ensure they understand what they are purchasing, including the nature of the property and any rights or liabilities that may attach to it. Accordingly, a buyer’s conveyancer raises enquiries before contract to secure information about the property...

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PRECEDENTS
Law Firm Outsourcing: Pre-contract Compliance and Due Diligence Checklist (England and Wales)

Description of proposed outsourcing services [ Outline the nature of the services you plan to outsource, eg typing from digital dictation ] Proposed outsourcing supplier [ Identify the intended outsourcing supplier to whom this due diligence record applies ] Compliance check Internal due diligence completed ☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ Not applicable [ Insert any comments or action points ] Pre-contract non-disclosure agreement signed ☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ Not applicable [ Insert any comments or action points ] Supplier has completed the pre-contract audit questionnaire ☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ Not applicable [ Insert any comments or action points ] Due diligence on the supplier completed ☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ Not applicable [ Insert any comments or action points ] Risk assessment completed ☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ Not applicable [ Insert any comments or action points ] Decision made to proceed ☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ Not applicable [ Insert any comments or action points...

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