Industry should lead on new ‘Copyright Hub’ says Hooper Report
31 July 2012
The creative industries need to play a key role in leading and funding the Copyright Hub, a marketplace for rights to streamline copyright licensing and make transactions easier.
Richard Hooper
These are the findings of an independent report published today (July 31) by Richard Hooper - his final report on the feasibility of developing a Digital Copyright Exchange. The report’s two key recommendations are for the creation of a not-for-profit industry-led, industry-funded Copyright Hub, and the establishment of a steering group to drive forward and oversee the design and implementation of the Hub.
The Copyright Hub will have five main purposes, to:
- act as a signpost and be a navigation mechanism to the complex world of copyright;
- be the place to go for copyright education;
- be the place where any copyright owner can choose to register works, the associated rights to those works, permitted uses and licences granted;
- be the place for potential licensees to go for easy to use, transparent, low transaction cost copyright licensing;
- be one of the authoritative places where prospective users of orphan works can go to demonstrate they have done proper, reasonable and due diligence searches for the owners of those works before they digitise them.
Richard Hooper (pictured) said: “If the UK is to maintain and improve its position as world leader in the creative industries then it needs an efficient and responsive system to manage the use of creative rights.
“Setting up an industry led and industry-funded Copyright Hub will help maximise the potential for creators and rights owners on the supply side and the wide range of licensees and users on the demand side.
“Creating a single marketplace for copyright licensing would not only reduce the costs of licensing and simplify a complex system that can be difficult to navigate but would also bring together key players to have a more effective exchange and use of rights. This will only help boost economic growth, ensuring that both the industry and consumers are making the most of the UK’s creativity.”
The report is based on evidence collected over a period of eight months from December 2011 to July 2012.
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