Murdoch, who is chairman and chief executive, Europe and Asia, at News Corporation, was addressing an audience at Stationers' Hall in London at a special event marking the 300th anniversary of the introduction of copyright legislation. The 1710 'Statute of Anne' established as law a copyright regime put in place by the Stationers' Company some 153 years earlier.

In the face of recent government moves that hinted at a possible relaxation of copyright regulation, Murdoch stated: "It is worthwhile thinking about who gains from changing and undermining copyright, it seems to be coming from the tech industry and search engines.

"We have to be mindful of that. It would be better, from my point-of-view if the government were spending its time looking at modernising the application of copyright."

The Stationers' Company launched its Copyright in the Digital Age book at the forum, based on articles submitted by a variety of experts from the creative industries to its online project at www.copyright-debate.co.uk.

Murdoch also spoke out about the controversial introduction of a paywall on the Times and Sunday Times websites, describing the initial 150,000 paying customers as "a pretty good start".

"It's a very early game and there's really not a lot of understanding – by anybody including us – of just what sort of dynamics those customers have in terms of churn and how they react to iPad products, print products... we try to be as transparent as we can," he stated.

"For a product you invest in charging a fair price seems a logical way of being remunerated. I don't think that's unreasonable."

Murdoch's address was followed by a debate about copyright issues between Dr Sarah Thomas, Bodley's Librarian; author John Howkins who is also convenor of the British Council copyright initiative; Roger Parry, author and chairman of publisher Future; and Kevin Taylor, director of strategy and intellectual property at Cambridge University Press.