The suggestion was made by Andrew Gowers, in his review of the country's intellectual property regime.

Commenting following the conclusion of a consultation on the proposed exceptions, the BPI, which represents the UK's recording industry, announced that:

"On April 8th, the UK music industry, as represented by the Music Business Group [MBG], delivered its collective response to the proposed changes to copyright exceptions as recommended by Andrew Gowers."

"The most contentious of these remains UK IPO’s proposed recommendations to implement an exception for format shifting without compensation."

"The MBG wholeheartedly welcomes this debate. Despite massive sales growth of both MP3 players and music-enabled mobile handsets, the act of transferring music from a legitimately purchased CD to such devices for personal use remains technically illegal in the UK."

It continued:

"We acknowledge that consumers clearly want to format shift and also place enormous value on the transferability of music. Music fans clearly deserve legal clarity in this area as well as the freedom to enjoy any music they have legitimately obtained."

"But it is not only music lovers who benefit here. Enormous value is derived by those technology companies and manufacturers who enable consumers to copy. UK creators and rights owners are legally entitled to share in this value – as they hold the exclusive right to reproduce their music – but are currently excluded from the value chain."

The BPI went on to argue that:

"The UK IPO’s current recommendation also leaves the UK at odds with the rest of Europe. In every other major European territory, an exception for private copying is counterbalanced by mechanisms that compensate creators and rights holders."

To restore a "balance of copyright", the BPI explained that the Music Business Group is proposing putting in place an "easily-implemented, flexible, future-proofed and transparent solution: an exception subject to licence".

It explained:

"The purpose of this proposal would not be to legitimise the wholesale copying and sharing of music, but to allow consumers to transfer music they have purchased onto their portable devices, while ensuring that a fraction of the value is enjoyed by those who create music and invest in its creation. The licensing scheme would be restricted to copying in the offline world."