UK creators promote licensing

UK creators promote licensing and caution against exceptions

The Government is today being urged to reconsider impending changes to copyright law which would seriously restrict the ability of British creators and copyright holders to license and earn revenue from their rights. 

Organisations representing a wide section of UK creators and businesses including art, music, film, TV, print and publishing, today argue that the broad scope of potential copyright exceptions expected to be announced later this month by the Intellectual Property Office, will damage both economic and cultural growth.

Instead this group supports an alternative proposal Licensing UK that supports creators’ rights to license businesses where value is being created. The proposal has been sent to Dr Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the IPO in advance of the policy decision being finalised.

Supporting Licensing UK are:

Association of Independent Music (AIM) Music www.musicindie.com

Artists Collecting Society Art www.artistscollectingsociety.org

Bridgeman Art Library Art www.bridgemanart.com

British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) Music www.basca.org.uk

British Equity Collecting Society Performers www.equitycollecting.org.uk/

British Phonographic Industry (BPI) Music www.bpi.co.uk

British Video Association (BVA) Audio-visual www.bva.org.uk

Copyright Licensing Agency Cross Sector www.cla.co.uk

Creators Rights Alliance Cross Sector
www.creatorsrights.org.uk

Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) Art & Design
www.dacs.org.uk

Directors UK Audio-visual www.directors.uk.com

Educational Recording Agency (ERA) Education www.era.org.uk

Equity Performers www.equity.org.uk

Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) Music www.ism.org

Music Producers Guild (MPG) Music www.mpg.org.uk

Music Publishers Association (MPA) Music www.mpaonline.org.uk

Musicians' Union Music www.musiciansunion.org.uk

Newspaper Licensing Agency (NLA) Print www.nla.co.uk

PPL Music www.ppluk.com

PRS for Music 

The Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) Writers and Authors www.alcs.co.uk

Publishers Licensing Society Publishers www.pls.org.uk

UK Music Music www.ukmusic.org

Notes to editors:

• A Policy Statement from the IPO is excepted before the end of the year 
• The statement will outline the Government’s preferred options in response to its ‘Consultation on Copyright, which lasted from December 2011 to March 2012. Some of the copyright exceptions currently under consideration include the following:

1. Private copying
2. Use of works for education
3. Widening exceptions related to the right of public performance
4. Creating an new exception for parody and pastiche
5. Text and data mining for research

The full consultation document is available to read here: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/consult-2011-copyright.pdf

•  Intellectual property and copyright is under discussion at four different events across the UK on Tuesday 4th December:

1. The Alliance for Intellectual Property Conference
2. UK Music is giving evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee
3. An All Party Parliamentary Writers Group meets at the House of Commons
4. The British Copyright Council is launching its "principles of best practice" for collecting societies at the Supreme Court