A new scheme launched last week is set to give unprecedented access to the UK’s wealth of orphan culturally valuable creative works, including diaries, photographs, oral history recordings and documentary films.
Orphan works are those which are covered by copyright, but the right holders cannot be found. Under the new scheme, those seeking permission to reproduce such works will be able to apply for a license from the Intellectual Property Office (IPO). This will allow them the reproduce the works on websites, books and TV without breaking the law, whilst protecting the right holder’s rights if they re-emerge.
A work can be counted as an orphan work if one or more of the holders of the copyright is unknown or cannot be located. The scheme is being extolled as a ground breaking scheme which builds on UK and international best practice, and is the first scheme of its type to use an electronic application system and search register of orphan work licenses. This will help right holders to reunite with their works and ensure they are paid for their creations.
Minister for Intellectual Property, Baroness Neville-Rolfe, said: “The UK’s trailblazing orphan works licenses scheme enables access to a wider range of our culturally important works.
“This scheme has been designed to protect right holders and give them a proper return if they reappear, while ensuring that citizens and consumers will be able to access more of our country’s great creations, more easily.”
The scheme is part of a wider move to modernise the UK’s copyright system following the Hargreaves Review.