Stock photo professionals in the UK and across Europe are deeply concerned about the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill that is working its way through Parliament. As currently proposed it represent a serious threat to the ability of rightsholders to generate income from copyrighted works.
Many creators and organisations representing rightsholders including BSAC, EPUK, FOCAL and BAPLA are strongly urging creative professionals in the UK to add their names to a memorandum prepared by Serena Tierney, Head of Intellectual Property at Bircham Dyson Bell LLP. The document is to be presented the House of Lords on Monday, November 12th.
At issue are clauses 65-69 that deal with copyright are part of a much more comprehensive piece of legislation that is working its way through Parliament. The specific language of these clauses can be found
here.
The document prepared by Serena Tierney clearly outlines the following issues that require further scrutiny at this parliamentary level:
- orphan works
- extended collective licensing
- new exceptions to copyright
- reduction of copyright terms for anonymous, pseudonymous and unpublished works
CEPIC agrees that the legislative proposals being put forward by the UK Government represent a 'serious threat' to the picture business and that it goes much further than the
Orphan Works Directive the recently adopted by the European Union. If passed, this legislation could “ set a dangerous precedent for all rights holders in Europe and the world,” according to CEPIC.
The full text of Tierney’s memorandum can be found at this
link, or by contacting any of the above organizations, or by contacting Serena Tierney at
frerangvrearl@oqo-ynj.pb.hx.
Creatives that are residents of the UK, and UK organizations that represent copyrighted works, are asked to support this effort by sending their scanned signature and company/business logo to:
frerangvrearl@oqo-ynj.pb.hx