The European Commission has been advised that copyright owners should be required to register their ownership in order to receive all of their entitlements under copyright law.

The proposal, one of many made in a recent report by a European think tank, is designed to halt the prevalence of ‘orphan works’ – works where the rights holder cannot be identified or located. The amount of orphan works has exploded online in recent times due to the ever increasing levels of user generated content.  Orphan works are prevalent in all genres, from text and games to music and film.

The problem that has been identified is the difficulty or impossibility in tracking and identifying the creator of an orphan work, leading to uncertainty regarding copyright infringement. The new report therefore suggests a process of registration to combat this uncertainty.

The overhaul recommended by the report would require a fundamental change to the current regime in relation to copyright in Ireland and indeed in most other legal systems where copyright subsists automatically without the need for any formal registration process.

The report goes on to propose that cultural institutions such as libraries and galleries be given a “window of opportunity” to digitise works which are out of commercial distribution because the works’ owners have not exploited their rights.

Copyright holders may feel aggrieved at laws which would allow public bodies to digitise their work without consent; however, the report endeavours to balance the rights of all interested parties. The high costs involved in rights clearance means that it is in both the public and private interest to formulate a solution which is agreeable to all.

For further information please contact Leo Moore or John Magee of our Technology & Commercial Contracts Department.