The review, launched by Prime Minister David Cameron last month, is to address the current state of intellectual property rights in the United Kingdom and the European Union in an aim to simplify copyright law in the digital age.

According to Cameron, the country's copyright laws must be reviewed to allow companies such as Facebook and Google to use content created by others. In a speech given in November, Cameron said: "The service they provide depends on taking a snapshot of all the content on the internet at any one time and they feel our copyright system is not as friendly to this sort of innovation as it is in the United States. Over there, they have what are called 'fair-use' provisions, which some people believe gives companies more breathing space to create new products and services."

Cameron has asked the Intellectual Property Office to look at the possibility of expanding the country "fair-usage" policy to be more in line with that of the US. Now, Baroness Wilcox has unveiled the names of the experts that will be advising Ian Hargreaves, the review chair.

They include Tom Loosemore, who has held senior positions in the BBC, Channel 4 and Ofcom; Roger Burt, a chartered patent attorney, who is currently the intellectual property Law Counsel for IBM in Europe; professor David Gann, head of innovation and entrepreneurship at Imperial College; professor James Boyle, a legal academic and expert in intellectual property law; and Mark Schankerman, professor at the London School of Economics.
 
"It is essential the review is guided by a strong team with varied backgrounds," says Baroness Wilcox, "and I am delighted we have achieved that." However, photographers will be worried to see that no representative of the country's creative industries are present on the panel, despite the fact that any change in intellectual property laws will affect these creators.

Meanwhile, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee in the House of Commons has delayed its own inquiry on the protection of intellectual property rights online.

Last month, the committee called on individuals and organisations in the creative industries to submit written evidence regarding the proposed changes to UK copyright law under the Digital Economy Act.

The inquiry, which was expected to start next month, will look at "the extent to which [the act] is a reasonable and sufficient response to the challenges facing creative industries and individuals in digital markets." However, it's been delayed after British Telecom and Talk Talk were granted a judicial review of parts of the Act.

Both companies won a major legal victory against the Digital Economy Act, after  the High Court granted them a judicial review of the legislation. Opposition to the Act began shortly after its somewhat hasty passing in the closing days of the Labour government, raising concerns it had not been properly thought through. BT and Talk Talk are in agreement that the rules for ISPs policing its users online activity, regarding illegal file sharing, remained incompatible with European law.
 
In the wake of this new development, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee have decided to suspend any evidence sessions in public until the reviews proceedings are concluded. In response, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee have extended the deadline for submitting written evidence until 23 March 2011.