So Orphan Works is back on the agenda.
Actually, it was never OFF the agenda, but work has been going on in the background and most of our communication since the Digital Economy Bill debate has been dedicated to the Picture Buyers’ Fair. But with that over, a new Prime Minister installed and indeed a new IP Minister in place, it’s time for your say.
Since the fall of Clause 43 from the Bill (the clause that proposed to licence Orphan Works and create Extended Collective Licensing schemes) – a number of things have happened.
Here are four key points to update you on now:
- The British Photographic Council (BPC) has met: Through this body, BAPLA, along with the likes of AOP, EPUK, NUJ and other photography groups are discussing the next stage to move the debate forward. Working through the BPC is the best way for photography groups to work together and BAPLA is absolutely committed to it. Our next meeting is in June, where we’ll be reviewing the results of BPC’s second annual photographic industry survey which was launched last week. I sent a link for BAPLA members – if you’ve yet to fill it in, then you need to click here. The survey should give us some very useful information on the photographic industry.
- Stop 43, the group of photographers at the heart of the fall of Clause 43, have published an alternative to Clause 43. We’ll all be discussing this in detail with them at the next BPC meeting too. You should have a read of it – it’s a good starting point which raises some interesting and very challenging points. The link’s here: www.stop43.org.uk
- BAPLA has started work on an Orphan Works manifesto: BAPLA represents a number of different groups and we recognise a one-size fits all approach can’t work. The debate surrounding the Digital Economy Bill was changing on a daily basis, making it hard to gather vast amounts of feedback – but time now, for a short while at least, is on our side. We’ll be talking to different parts of the membership and picking out the common goals our members share for an Orphan Works solution. From that we’ll create a manifesto which will be shared with the BPC and will be used for lobbying the broad position of our industry. We’re talking to members now and are creating a first draft. We’ll send you that when it’s complete and ask you to contact us with your thoughts.
- We have new people making decisions inside Westminster: Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, the political position critical to the future of digital copyright is Jeremy Hunt, a Conservative, who met with us and other photography associations on a number of occasions during the Bill’s debate. We think this is a big move as we believe the industry has started a very good relationship with him. The new Minster of IP is Baroness Wilcox, who takes over from Labour’s David Lammy. This is another massive position and we have already been in contact with the peer to ensure she knows what BAPLA is about, who it represents and what its members mean to the UK creative industry. We have talked through our role working with publishers, creators and policy makers and the work of the BAPLA working groups to evolve new business models to ensure access to the UK’s leading photographic images both here and abroad, highlighting the growing trend of the ‘new generation’ of image buyers getting frustrated with free images and how they are looking to unlock unique content.
I’ll be sure to update you on all important aspects of the next BPC meeting and will ensure you see the headline results from the photographic survey. BAPLA members will also be in receipt of the first draft of our Orphan Works manifesto as soon as it’s ready. If she hasn’t been in contact with you yet and you feel you’d like to be involved in this first stage, then please feel free to email Linda Royles (linda.royles@me.com) with some key points on how you would like Orphan Works dealt with.
