The British government has just announced its proposed Bills to be presented to Parliament. These include the Digital Economy Bill, which among other issues, includes provisions to deal with orphan works (“works for which the rights holders are unknown or cannot be traced”).
The Strategic Content Alliance’s intellectual property rights consultant, Naomi Korn, summarises the potential impact of the bill for public sector bodies.
In a recent survey, In From the Cold, carried out by the JISC and Collections Trust, it was estimated that over 50 million works across the UK’s public sector are likely to be orphan works. Similarly, the British Library has estimated that over 40% of works in existence are orphan works.
The provisions in the Digital Economy Bill, would, for the first time, provide a legislative solution to the problem of orphan works, by providing the means for licensing bodies and other third parties to apply directly to the Secretary of State for a non-exclusive licence to use these works. Furthermore, the Bill would deal with issues related to financial numeration and ceasing to use the work if the rights holders were to come forward as well as what happens to any fees collected if the rights holders are not found after a specific period of time. These provisions will be of great interest to public sector bodies as they provide all-round solution to both legal and non-legal ramifications associated with the use of orphans, as well as the potential for public sector bodies to apply directly to the Secretary of State for such a licence. Issues relating to defining orphan works will need to be addressed before the Bill is passed
Other measures of interest in the Bill include the possible shut down of internet access for illegal file sharers.
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