Copyright Hub gets £150,000 Government funding

The IP Minister, Lord Younger, today announced that the Government will provide £150,000 funding to create the much discussed Copyright Hub, a one-stop-shop copyright licensing website. The goal is to cut costs for consumers and businesses by creating a more efficient online market place where they can easily license copyright protected works.

The Copyright Hub was proposed by Professor Hargreaves, in his review of IP and Growth in May 2011, in which he examined how best to ensure that UK digital markets for copyright works were" transparent, contestable and supportive to innovation", so that transaction costs were minimised and investment signals clarified. His goal was "a functioning online licensing market to support delivery of legitimate content to consumers."

Whilst this initial investment in designing the Copyright Hub is a step towards Hargreaves' proposed licensing system we shouldn't forget that previous work by KPMG has suggested it could take over two years to build the Copyright Hub and depending on the functionality and funding available it could cost £10-20m. However for Hooper, Director of Copyright Hub Ltd, this first funding is an important step towards making the Copyright Hub a reality. He has said:

"The Copyright Hub, linking to a wide array of databases and digital copyright exchanges, has the clear aim of helping consumers, rights users and small businesses find their way through the complexity of copyright and thus allow them to license copyrighted works much more easily and at a lower transaction cost. The Copyright Hub until today has been just an idea. Today it begins to become an exciting reality. We are especially grateful for the speed with which the Department of Business/IPO provided some start-up funding thus giving a real boost to this whole idea that emanated from the Hargreaves Review."

Lord Younger has said:

"The funding announced today will help industry to start building the Hub website sooner and engage with schools and Further Education colleges to help streamline educational licensing. Above all, it chimes with government's aim to provide a further portal to assist businesses to grow faster and to boost our creative industries."

Lord Younger continues:

"Databases of copyright works such as those held by collecting societies and publishers, and designs such as the Register of Designs at the IPO already exist. However, Government has listened to concerns that consumers are unsure who they should go to if they are looking for information about obtaining a licence, particularly if multiple rights are involved."

Kevin Fitzgerald, Chief Executive Officer, Copyright Licensing Agency has said:

"CLA are keen supporters of the Copyright Hub because it will simplify access to copyright works, benefiting both consumers and creators. And that will have a positive economic impact on the whole UK economy."

Jo Dipple, UK Music Chief Executive Officer said:

"The copyright hub is very welcome and it is something the music industry has enthusiastically embraced as we try to push for further growth in the global digital marketplace. I've recently been at SXSW in Texas and witnessed first hand the hunger and appetite for the music made by British artists and bands and the potential for its growth, which the hub can only help to serve.

With this new funding the project has been given a real kickstart and it also demonstrates a further, very welcome commitment from the Government, whose continued support - in partnership with our industry - is needed to underpin the hub's success."

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.