Hooper's vision unfolds

Former BBC legal chief James Lancaster will chair the new Copyright Licensing Steering Group, set up as a result of Richard Hooper's investigation 'Copyright works - streamlining copyright in the digital age' which proposed the creation of a Digital Copyright Exchange to  facilitate the licensing of copyrights on a 'one stop shop' basis with a registry of copyright data and copyright owners and potentially licensing mechanisms.  The Copyright Hub would also be responsible for providing education on copyright, the need for which (for both consumers and content owners!) was recently highlighted by Iona on this Blog. The DCE would also be responsible for solutions to the issues surrounding orphan works.  Hooper's co-author, Ros Lynch, will oversee the CLSG on secondment from the Department of Business Innovation and Skills, at an industry funded office hosted by publisher Pearson. Hooper will chair a sub-committee called the 'Copyright Hub Launch Group' looking at how the digital licensing exchange will work. 

PRS for Music boss Robert Ashcroft reacted positively to the announcement saying “We join with others across the industry in welcoming the announcement today that James Lancaster, former Head of Rights And Business Affairs at the BBC, will chair the Copyright Licensing Steering Group and that Ros Lynch will be leading an office to spearhead the work to deliver Richard Hooper’s Copyright Works recommendations”. The music collection society boss  added “We will continue, with our partners in the industry, to meet the challenges he identified, providing a better licensing environment for all. As previously stated, we believe that the Copyright Hub recommended by Hooper could place Britain at the very centre of the global, online market for the creative industries. Coupled with industry efforts for a Global Repertoire Database, it will prove to be a critical building block in what must inevitably be an international project”.

Copyright works can be downloaded here 

Hooper's Copyright Hub takes shape

Richard Hooper has today published his final report on the creation of a UK based Digital Copyright Exchange. The report, Copyright Works:  streamlining copyright licensing for the digital age can be downloaded here and sets out four main recommendations under the remit of setting up a not for profit industry led and industry funded Copyright Hub which will serve a number of functions including


* Information and copyright education
* Registries of rights
* A market place for rights - licensing solutions
* Help with the orphan works problem

The accompanying press release gives a little bit more detail saying that the Copyright Hub will have five main purposes, to:

Richard Hooper 

- 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.

With Richard Hooper saying  "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".

There are very positive and glowing comments from Business Secretary Vince Cable who said "The idea of a 'copyright hub' is an ambitious undertaking and one that could clearly yield great benefits for the UK's creative industries and consumers. It is potentially a ground-breaking step forward that will help make copyright licensing fit for 21st century." 


UK Music, and the UK's two music collection societies PRS for Music and PPL all made very positive noises and Nick Evans-Lombe, COO of Getty Images said: "We are impressed by the speed and no-nonsense manner with which Richard Hooper and Ros Lynch have addressed the key impediments to speedy innovation, across what are the hugely diverse, inherently international, digital copyright markets. We welcome the way they have dug deep into the underpinning principles of copyright licensing, without losing sight of the critical importance of maintaining a strong copyright regime, which is essential to enable the creative industries to continue to flourish" and from  Sarah Faulder, CEO of the Publishers’ Licensing Society who said: "Richard Hooper's phase two report Copyright Works, sets out a focused and worthwhile vision of a multi-faceted copyright hub to explain and streamline the process of copyright licensing.  Making it easier to get appropriate copyright licences will benefit both rights holders and those who want to build their businesses on copyright content or otherwise be able to use copyright material lawfully" adding "By recognising existing good practice, stimulating new initiatives in the course of his work and identifying issues that need urgent attention, Richard has encouraged the creative industries to collaborate and he has motivated them to take forward his vision. The scale of the task ahead in order to turn his vision into reality should not, however, be underestimated."

All that said, I have to say I found it hard to get excited by the final Report - all of the main problems have been identified and Richard Hooper's approach seems to have been more than diligent, intelligent, inclusive and well thought out - and certainly anything that helps with licensing must be a positive move forward for the content industries in the fight against piracy. But, and its a big but, the Hub will not be 'compulsory' for content owners to join for low value high volume consumer facing schemes, which means that many digital users will just say it has failed, as they need a 'one stop shop' to become legitimate - and there seems to be no real carrot for content owners to be included. I wonder if some commercial operators will bother - although I should make it clear that I would not suggest that using the Hub should be compulsory and clearly Hooper knows that high value low volume licensing will be excluded (citing Universal's licence with Spotify as an example of something that would be outside of the Hub).  


The carrot of some advantage of registering with the Hub might have helped this blogger make more sense of it  - giving the Hub some extra legislative teeth that could be used against infringers for example, or some other advantage. Secondly (and again something that might attract the criticism that there is no 'one stop shop') the Hub is a UK initiative and is not global or even pan-European in its scope - although on the last point I would say "not as yet". PRS For Music's CEO Robert Ashcroft was one who mentioned the need for a "Global Repertoire Database" as a key building block in what "must inevitably be an international project", something the Report itself does acknowledge, noting the importance of data and noting the music industry's aspirations to have a global database for musical works, and for sound recordings, and recommending that the audio visual industry adopts standardised identifiers,. Hooper clearly realises the need for the Hub to include all content owners within and across media sectors against a backdrop of multi-media and borderless end users. As an aside, for a very interesting take on how to streamline music licensing (and collection societies) in Europe, see para 132.


Finally, there seems to be little onward Government support or involvement - it's left to the content industries to make Richard's "vision" a reality - and as I read it, they have to meet the cost. Maybe that's a positive move, far better than having a Hub imposed from above - but I wonder if really legislation might better give the Copyright Hub a spine and some claws (if they are needed). 


Hooper proposes that the Report's co-author, Dr Ros Lynch, now leads a steering committee (the Copyright Licensing Steering Group) to put his proposals into action - and potentially form a cross sectoral and collaborative Copyright Hub Launch Group - I presume with some Government funding for that although Hooper seems to suggest that at least for a year the creative industries have agreed to fund the Licensing Group.


The full report can be downloaded here http://www.ipo.gov.uk/dce-report-phase2.pdf 

Hargreaves and Hooper speak out

Richard Hooper

Ian Hargreaves, author of last year's report on Intellectual Property and digital  growth in the UK, and Richard Hooper, ex Deputy Chairman of Ofcom and ex-Chair of the Radio Authority (and my MD at pan-European broadcaster SuperChannel way back in the 80s!) who is now in charge of the feasibility study for the for the Digital Copyright Exchange (DCE) proposed in Prof Hargreaves' Report, have been speaking to assorted representatives from the music industry at a 'First Monday' event on the 11th June in Central London. 

Professor Ian Hargreaves

Saying that the Digital Copyright Exchange was "the single most important thing" in his report, Hargreaves said that he was "very happy that work was already being done to make it a reality. I'll be less happy if it doesn't succeed! But while the government continues to support Richard, there is great potential". 


Hooper in turn explained why he sees a need for the DCE, saying "It's our belief that our copyright licensing system, as a whole, is currently not fit for purpose" telling his audience "The music industry is actually better than many other creative sectors, but there is still room for improvement, and I think most people in the music industry would agree. There are various issues, but a key one is identification. It is critical that we make it easier for licensees to identify who owns what rights, and how they might go about licensing them. Now, many digital copyright exchanges already exist around the world and across the various creative industries, and especially in the music industry. But not everyone uses them, not everyone uses them correctly, and not everyone knows they exist.


Both speakers seemed to accept that any DCE would need to be run on a voluntary basis with content owners 'opting in' to a database and licensing platform, although some commentators say that without compulsory membership (or a UK copyright registration system) the DCE would never really become effective as big players 'opt out'. But Hooper said "This process is about industry thinking" adding "these are not the government's issues that we are trying to address, they are your issues. And we have enjoyed a great response from the creative industries, especially the music industry. There is an appetite to make this work". Hooper also made the point that content owners had to face up to the reality of music and other content piracy saying "If you want politicians to do more to combat piracy" he said, "first you've got to take practical steps to eliminate the excuses used by those who routinely infringe" but made the important point that copyright law as it currently stands confuses many, is ignored and indeed is ridiculed by some, saying:


"For copyright to work, it needs to be brought in line with reasonable expectations" adding "We need mainstream public opinion on our side, and that means streamlining the licensing process, and removing those elements of copyright that most people consider a nonsense. Not being able to copy CDs for personal use is a nonsense. Not being able to make parody songs and post them on YouTube is, in my opinion, a nonsense. And the issue of orphan works, a nonsense. For copyright to work, for anti-piracy initiatives to work, the basic system needs to be credible. And these are the changes we are trying to make, to make your copyright system stronger". 


 But against this debate is the fact that a the DCE seems an already outdated concept in the age of a Worldwide web - it's a global business with global users ...... and one might ask the question of what use is a UK focussed copyright exchange? 


 Quotes from the CMU Daily (12th June 2012)  http://www.thecmuwebsite.com/  and an earlier  interview with Professor Hargreaves here and his A Review of Intellectual Property and Growth  Report here and Mr Hoopers 'phase one' report - Rights and Wrongs - is copyright licensing for the digital age? can be downloaded as a pdf file here 


And congratulations to Ian Hargreaves, appointed a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours on the 16th June.