Goodbye tax discs, hello mash-ups: five things that change today
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Version 0 of 1. Good news for mash-ups The Intellectual Property Act 2014, a minor amendment to the Patents Act 1977, comes into force today. One of its effects is to allow the use of copyrighted material “for the purposes of parody, caricature or pastiche”, without first seeking permission from the rights holder. So, good news for the likes of Adam Buxton and Cassetteboy: mash-ups are now ok, providing you can convince a judge they’re funny or worthwhile. The end of the paper tax disc Motorists will no longer have to display a paper tax disc as proof of payment of the Vehicle Excise Duty (not to be confused with road tax, which hasn’t existed since the thirties). Not that individuals and businesses will no longer have to pay, just that the technology has changed: the police can now rely on DVLA’s digital register and cameras with automatic number plate recognition to locate those who don’t. The National Minimum wage has gone up The national minimum wage is now £6.50 for workers 21 and over, £5.13 for 18-20 year olds, £3.79 for those aged 16 and 17, and £2.73 for apprentices under 19 (or 19 and over if they’re in their first year of the apprenticeship). Responsible drinking New Home Office measures designed to curb binge drinking come into effect today. Clubs and pubs will no longer be able to promote irresponsible drinking promotions such as all you can drink in an hour, and pubs must display information about smaller measures on price lists and tell customers that smaller sizes are available. Help to Buy New lending limits on Help to Buy come into force today. Introduced “to insure against potential risks to financial stability if mortgage lending standards were to loosen in future”, Help to Buy Mortgage Guarantee loans will not be allowed at or above 4.5 times a borrower’s income, and mortgage lenders won’t be able to offer more than 15% of new mortgages at loan to income ratios of 4.5 to one or more. |