MP to advise UK PM on intellectual property
September 13, 2013
By Colin Mann
The Conservative MP for Hove Mike Weatherley has been made an unofficial adviser to UK Prime Minister David Cameron.
As an unpaid adviser on intellectual property, he will report to the Prime Minister and ministers, focusing on enforcement issues relating to the creative industries.
Weatherley worked in intellectual property in the music and film sectors before his election to Parliament in 2010.
He was the vice president (Europe) for the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation and previously worked for the record producer Pete Waterman.
One of Weatherley’s focuses since becoming an MP has been to try to raise awareness of intellectual property rights among his parliamentary colleagues.
He said that the creative industries were incredibly important to Britain’s economy, and suggested that it was “only right” that the government focused on enforcement issues. “I look forward to working with the Prime Minster and my ministerial colleagues on addressing the challenges that face the film and music industries,” he stated.