UK rights update

Digital Opportunity: A Review of Intellectual Property and Growth by Ian Hargreaves

The findings of Ian Hargreaves’ review of intellectual property and growth have now been published and the Government has adopted its recommendations. Here is a summary of those most relevant to ALCS. A more detailed report on the review and the subsequent Government response can be found on our website.

One of the headline initiatives from the review is the planned creation of a Digital Copyright Exchange (often referred to as the DCE) – a linked network of rights and licensing information accessible to creators, rightsholders and users of copyright content. The report estimates that such an exchange could add up to £2.2bn a year to the economy by 2020. ALCS is already working to develop its licensing partnerships and databases to suit digital-use models and, where appropriate, will seek to integrate this work within any wider exchange model. There is more on the DCE in our flagship feature ©opyright: the state of play.

Government proposals are due this autumn for an ‘orphan works scheme’, which would allow cultural and commercial access to works for which the author or other rightsholders cannot be found, and for the voluntary adoption of ‘extended collective licensing models’ in certain limited cases, such as large-scale archive digitisation projects. ALCS supports the British Copyright Council (BCC) scheme on orphan works, and through its involvement in the Wellcome Library pilot (see News and views) is planning to develop enhanced services for searching and data recording of archive material.

We also expect proposals shortly for a ‘substantial opening up of the UK’s copyright exceptions regime’. This will include new measures to allow limited private copying; extensions to the current non-commercial research exceptions (including new allowances for ‘data-mining’); and enhanced rights for library archiving and creating works of parody. ALCS will review any government proposals against the established principle that any limitations to an author’s right to control the circumstances in which their works may be used should only be applied in special cases, and in a way that does not prejudice the author’s interests.

Collective management organisations, like ALCS, will in future be required to adopt codes of practice reflecting certain minimum standards prescribed by the Government; failure to do so will lead to the imposition of statutory codes. Through the BCC we have been working with colleagues to develop a set of minimum standards and we will also be publishing a code later this year.

The future of many of Ian Hargreaves’ recommendations will depend on the outcome of the consultation processes due to begin this autumn. We will keep Members fully up to date via the ALCS website.

PLR: the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee Report

A recent Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee inquiry into arts funding criticised the process that led to the decision to abolish the current PLR structure. It expressed the view that ALCS would be a more suitable organisation to administer the PLR scheme than the British Library and urged the Government to enact the necessary legislative changes to enable this to take place. We understand that it is unlikely that this recommendation will be taken forward, however.

 

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EC rights update

EC intellectual property rights strategy

Shortly after the release of Digital Opportunity: A Review of Intellectual Property and Growth the European Commission published a paper setting out its IPR strategy. These are its most relevant recommendations:

  • Pan-European licensing structures should be developed by setting common standards on governance and transparency for licensing bodies. A Framework Directive is due in late 2011 or early 2012.
  • There should be a review of the 2001 Copyright Directive scheme of exceptions and limitations. This is significant at a time when the UK is looking to take a more expansive approach to new exceptions and is planning to argue at European level for a new exception permitting so-called ‘non-consumptive’ uses such as text and data mining activities for commercial purposes.
  • Europeana (Europe’s online cultural library project) should be promoted by mediating a dialogue between rightsholders and libraries and archives on out-of-commerce works (such as out of print books), and through a new directive on orphan works, which would enable certain educational establishments, libraries, archives, museums and public service broadcasters to copy orphan works and make them available online, subject to due diligence searches.
  • There should be a new stakeholder agreement on private copying compensation, under the supervision of an independent mediator, with possible new legislation tabled by 2012. This is timely in the wake of the review of intellectual property and growth by Ian Hargreaves (which effectively reinforces the UK’s a typical position on compensation), although a number of ongoing cases in Spain, the Netherlands and Germany – some involving ECJ rulings – are aiming to define the parameters of the different compensation systems within the guidelines set by the EC Copyright Directive.

To monitor progress on the IPR strategy and related work, ALCS has established a series of regular meetings with Maria Martin-Prat, Head of the EC Copyright Unit.

Licensing update

We have recently signed the following new agreements:

  • A three-year deal based on a 2% year on year increase on the previous rates per subscriber for the simultaneous retransmission of BBC channels on cable services into the Republic of Ireland.
  • An agreement with the Lithuanian society LATGA-A for the collection of fees from its library lending scheme.
  • An agreement with the Estonian society AHF for the collection of fees from the library lending scheme.

Richard Combes is Head of Policy and Planning at ALCS.

 

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