ALCS Lobbying Activities on the Digital Economy Bill
Background
In July 2008 the All Party Writers Group (APWG) met with the then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Rt. Hon. Andy Burnham, to discuss the possibility of a review into Public Lending Right (PLR) with a view to extending the current provisions to benefit writers.
Andy Burnham was receptive to a PLR review and so the APWG, working with ALCS, outlined the desired scope.
This proposal for a review was then passed on to Margaret Hodge who had ministerial responsibilities for Libraries.
Following subsequent meetings with the Intellectual Property Office and other civil servants, along with meetings of the APWG, ALCS was delighted to learn that a proposed extension to the Public Lending Right Scheme had been included in the Digital Economy Bill (DEB). This proposed extension to the PLR Scheme will enable writers whose works are currently available in public libraries in audio and e-book formats to receive PLR remuneration for the lending of these works from libraries for the first time.
This has been the main focus of ALCS lobbying over the past 18 months.
Digital Economy Bill
Following publication of its Digital Britain report in summer 2009, the Government published draft legislation dealing with a number of legal and regulatory issues.
Public Lending Right
Having worked with the writers’ unions, publishers and DCMS on the review of PLR, we support the PLR extensions set out in the DEB. ALCS also welcomes the Government’s commitment to provide sufficient new funding (an estimated additional £750,000) to meet the expansions to the PLR Scheme.
Orphan Works
ALCS was pleased to see that the issue of Orphan Works was being addressed by the Government. ALCS has worked with a number of other organisations (Society of Authors, DACS, Publishers Association amongst others) to ensure that the draft legislation included clearer definitions and safeguards limiting the scope of licensing under these new measures only to genuine orphan works cases. We believe that any commercial exploitation of orphan works should allow for a fair return of the proceeds to the relevant part of the creative community. In cases where individual payments are impossible, this money could be used for projects with overarching benefits, such as schemes to support the creation of new creative works.
Extended Collective Licensing (ECL)
The DEB also includes powers for the Government to authorise licensing bodies to operate extended collective licensing schemes. ALCS did not lobby to have ECL provisions included in the Bill. The original measures on extended collective licensing set out in the Bill were very widely drawn and leave much to the discretion of the Secretary of State. As a result, together with other creator organisations and publishers, ALCS has since argued that extended collective licensing should only be exercised by bodies that are genuinely representative of the creators or other rightsholders of the works concerned. We have also argued for safeguards that would require consultation with creators or other rightsholders likely to be affected prior to the granting of any authorisations for extended collective licensing. Subsequent Government amendments have provided some reassurances on these points but we will continue to pursue these safeguards in the debate over any subsequent secondary legislation.
Internet piracy
ALCS shares the concerns of many other within the creative industries at the rise in unlawful sharing of authors’ work online. Through its affiliation to the Alliance Against IP Theft, ALCS has supported the measures set out in the Bill aimed at establishing mechanisms to restrict this kind of activity. Authors produce works that entertain, inspire and inform – to secure the future creation of such works, the digital environment needs to offer a fair deal for both creators and consumers.
In conclusion
ALCS is very pleased with the introduction of the clause on PLR into the DEB as a result of the work undertaken by the All Party Writers Group and would like to thank the current chair, Janet Anderson MP and former chair, Ian Gibson, for pushing the review forward on behalf of writers.