Calling all photographers on the Isle of Wight the Digital Economy Bill affects you!

As Isle of Wight Digital Imaging Group photographers were recently made aware, the Digital Economy Bill (DEB) is currently grinding its way through Parliament. It will reach report stage early next month, and the Government are determined to see the DEB passed without further amendment before the May 6th election.

The UK’s photographic community from the professional, to the amateur, are to be impacted by the new Digital Economy Bill. Various groups are coming together in an attempt to rouse the British public from its slumbers on this hugely-important issue.

We have urged our members to write or email our Island MP Andrew Turner  here: mail@IslandMP.com about the orphan licensing provisions of the Digital Economy Bill.

Britain’s Digital Economy Bill is based largely on a report by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) entitled “© the way ahead“. The report and its recommendations are a bid to reduce the complexity of the system, and should remove the need to seek permission and make payment for personal use of individual copyright works’.

EPUK reports: As Business Secretary Lord Mandelson’s Digital Economy Bill moves to the report stage, and the COPYRIGHT ACTION website gets 60,000 page views from anxious photographers, EPUK reveals how the bill’s clause on orphan works spells an uncertain future for photographers and publishers alike. Read more on the problems with the Digital Economy Bill Clause 42 – Licensing of Orphan Works click here:

The British Journal of Photography (BJP )reports here: a late-night debate in early February, the Digital Economy Bill in its new form continues to represent a threat to photographers as the House of Lords failed to strike out the controversial subsection 116B that gives power to the Secretary of State to transfer a property right – the right to copy – from one person to another without the owner’s consent.

COPYRIGHT ACTION states: The end game now in sight as the Digital Economy Bill is expected to become law. It introduces orphan works usage rights, which – unless amended, which the government says it will not – will allow the commercial use of any photograph whose author cannot be identified through a suitably negligent search. That is potentially about 90% of all the photos on the internet.

The British Journal of Photography (BJP) on behalf of photographers have followed the process here: “UK Government reassures photographers on copyright changes” in which Britain’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) spoke down fears of extreme application of the possible law.

Please note this affects all photographers whether amateur or professional who place their images online. This should make more people aware too if they provide images to anyone else without providing an adequate, licence, copyright symbol or watermark. The BJP has suggested that the changes could have most impact on photographers, as non-commercial consumers could use images without having to ask for permission or providing payment to the photographer.

In summary, it seems that anyone will be able to use someone else’s work for free if they have tried yet failed to find the original creator of the work.

The main people to lose out, according to BJP, Copyright Action and EPUK ect, will be amateur photographers, because their (usually unwatermarked) images will often be effectively of use for free. Professional photographers too as wedding and event photographers, could lose a large proportion of their revenues, which come from prints, if their customers are allowed to share and print their photos without restrictions.

Pressure on elected representatives is now the only way to stop the Bill, and time is short. We urge you to write or email our Island MP Andrew Turner  here: mail@IslandMP.com about the orphan licensing provisions of the Digital Economy Bill.  Template for letter here:

While it may be better to write your own unique letter if it helps a template letter is available from Copyright Action the letter template is here: Adapt it, change it, write something entirely different, but write!  Our Island MP Email is here: mail@IslandMP.com  if you can, set up your email account to ask for a delivery receipt. 

Update on the Digital Economy Bill with latest amendments here: This is the latest 9th Feb 2010 draft of S.42 of the DEB, the section that provides for the licensing of orphan works. This draft is as amended at the Committee stage. Read more here: Template for letter here:

This UK parliament link here: displays an extremely helpful bill progress chart so that you can see what stage the Digital Economy Bill is at, and what is to happen next.

To access websites and links click on bold text above.

Trackback URI