The British Video Association's annual general meeting brought together some 150 movers and shakers of the domestic home video industry to listen to guest speaker, Iain Wright MP, Shadow Minister for Competitiveness and Enterprise - the Labour opposition spokesperson on these matters, for those abroad not well versed in the UK political system.

Listening to politicians - in power or in the wing - matters because the formidable Lavinia Carey, BVA Director General, has been lobbying them relentlessly over two decades to ensure they don't run away from their responsibility when it comes to supporting the British creative industries. Indeed, Wright congratulated the BVA on the impact it has had in Westminster, particularly around the issue of copyright. Carey was honoured for her 20 years at the helm of the BVA.

The parliamentarian talked at length about the positive impact of the video entertainment industry and how he believed the Government should resist trying to 'modernise' UK copyright law while the industry is successfully adapting to the digital age. "Copyright should not be seen as burdensome regulation or red tape that is somehow stifling creativity, innovation and enterprise, but as a legal right that gives the creator confidence that ownership of their work will be protected in law."

Wright attacked the current government's successive reviews of copyright that are causing uncertainty to firms that rely on copyright for their business model. "The refusal of the Intellectual Property Office to promote IP protection as a key part of their remit is undermining confidence and certainty. The failure of the government to implement parts of the Digital Economy Act is hindering copyright enforcement as a priority, especially its stance on copyright exceptions done without proper assessment as to the impact on copyright holders."

Wright reminded the audience that the home entertainment industry is worth £2.3 billion to the UK economy. The amount spent by consumers on video entertainment in 2011 was more than the amount they spent on cinema and music combined. Video entertainment provides half of all revenues from feature films and over a third of all revenues from TV series.

"As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dr Who, 50% of all revenues from the Dr Who franchise come from video sales," says Wright. Some 54% of the revenues from Channel Four's The Inbetweeners Movie was derived from video sales and rentals. 575,000 copies were sold on the first day of its release and it went on to sell over one million by Christmas (2011). Downton Abbey, a series which has transformed [commercial broadcaster] ITV's fortunes in recent years, would not have been established had it not been for the revenues from DVD sales which allowed extra investment and subsequent recommissioning of such an expensive production."

If in power, how would a Labour government work with the video industry and others in the creative sector? "Some say the government should simply get out of the way and allow the market to decide what works and what doesn't. With digital technology across the globe, national governments are powerless, so it is claimed. I disagree," says Wright. "Government has an active role to helping to secure long-term economic prosperity for this country via fiscal discipline, greater emphasis on certainty by coordinating approach with all businesses involved, and setting rules of the game that influence the whole ecosystem of competition, innovation and business success."

Lavinia Carey spoke of the important work the BVA had been undertaking ahead of the launch of UltraViolet and the BVA's first consumer focused Christmas campaign. She also highlighted the work underway with retailers to provide better forecasting and reduce costs whilst discussing the ongoing battle to ensure Westminster, Whitehall and Brussels understand the importance of copyright. "We are all experiencing a world of change, but that job of getting video into the hands of people is still our focus. If we focus on giving people the content they continue to love in the ways they want, we'll not go wrong."

Story filed 24.11.13