EC Green Paper on Copyright in the Knowledge Economy – fostering and protecting intellectual property as part of Creative Britain.
With the eyes of the world on the Olympics in Beijing, it would be easy to have missed publication of the European Commission Green Paper on Copyright in the Knowledge Economy . Similarly given the wording of the questions it raises, its significance for creators and creative business could be overlooked. Published on 16 July, the Green Paper looks at the role of copyright in fostering dissemination of knowledge for research, science and education.
The Commission has announced the Green Paper as a starting point for a long term structured debate on the long term future of copyright policy in these fields.
Responses to the questions raised by the Green Paper have been requested by 30 November 2008 . Those questions touch on a number of issues that, at first glance seem relatively low profile for rights owners. However responses could directly affect the future value of copyright, and the way in which music, television, film and publishing companies secure a fair return from their creativity and investment in talent.
What do the Green Paper’s questions really mean for rights owners?
The questions include whether:
- the current list of non-mandatory copyright exceptions recognised under EU law should be changed, and some or all of the areas linked to education, research or scientific or library use be made mandatory;
- the law should be clarified with respect to whether the scanning of works held in libraries for the purposes of making their content searchable on the internet goes beyond the scope of current exceptions to copyright;
- there should be mandatory provisions that works are made available to people with a disability in a particular format;
- the teaching and research exception should be clarified to accommodate modern forms of distance learning and should there be a mandatory minimum requirement that the exception covers both teaching and research;
- there should be more precise rules about what consumers and other “end users” can or cannot do when making use of materials protected by copyright; and
- an exception for user-created content be introduced.
Making the questions more relevant to creators and creative businesses.
Underlining the Green Paper’s potential application to creators and creative businesses the following questions could have been legitimately raised:
- can a (long) list of compulsory copyright exceptions work fairly for all types of copyright work? Should exceptions for private viewing of television programmes mean that large groups of customers never have to pay to read a newly published book;
- if customers can always access libraries on-line without charge – would they really want to pay to access new online services developed by commercial brand names;
- when do fair provisions to support access to work by people with a disability actually substitute for the development of new business models or services, and therefore remove, rather than promote, incentive for investment;
- if someone can claim to be in education, undertaking research or needing access to copyright work in libraries, museums throughout a lifetime, when is a consumer “just” a consumer, and not a “beneficiary of an exception”;
- when is innovation and investment in new work no longer a viable option for creative businesses because too much of the community can claim “free” or “non commercial” access;
- should the law try to define what online customers can or cannot do with material delivered to them online? Is a better option to allow new business models to develop which allow the public to choose the uses they want (and are willing to pay for);
- is copyright something that should be a benefit for all creators, or should some consumers be entitled to use other people’s work on “preferential terms”; and
- When does an amateur user who creates something using the work of others have to give credit to the rights owners whose work has been “borrowed”. Would such an exception unfairly discriminate creative business?
Needless to say the questions in the Green Paper have not been put in this way, but for rights owners, there is a window of opportunity to think about these issues on this basis and make their views known before the 30 November deadline. The results could help redefine the scope for creative businesses in the future and the ongoing prospects for Creative Britain.
For further background to the Green Paper and the points raised please contact Andrew Yeates or any member of the Film & TV team.
Issued August 2008.
