The excerpt below is from the Intellectual Property Office website. The planned Exchange will be of great interest to those digitising orphan or in copyright works, hopefully leading to a acceleration of the process of rights clearance.
On 22 November Business Secretary Vince Cable announced the appointment of Richard Hooper to lead a feasibility study on developing a Digital Copyright Exchange (DCE) in the UK.
The DCE feasibility study will consider options for developing a functional digital market in rights clearance and a source of information about rights ownership, as recommended by the Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property and Growth and accepted by the Government.
Richard Hooper has invited stakeholders to respond to a call for evidence which asks two questions:
First, whether they agree with the ‘Hargreaves Hypothesis’ – that the current copyright licensing system is not fit for purpose; Secondly whether they agree with his proposed definitions, including the market definition. Richard Hooper said:
“This is a controversial issue with strongly held opinions across the spectrum – we are seeking hard data and evidence for or against the main, or parts of the, hypothesis. The responses I receive will help to inform my thinking as I move to develop a concept for a workable licensing solution.”
To submit a response to the Call for Evidence (142Kb), send your evidence with a completed response sheet via e-mail by no later than Friday 10 February 2012.