The Copyright Hub, a new online portal for copyright licensing in the UK and worldwide has launched its pilot site.
Making it easier to license a creative work
The first phase of the Copyright Hub provides information about copyright and licensing for people who want to use creative works and for creators who want to protect their work.
It covers all areas of the creative industries, from visual art to music, to text-based works and film.
Key features of the site include:
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Find out – general and detailed information about copyright, the law, licensing and rights
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Get permission – information about where you need to go to get permission to use and/or license a creative work
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Protect – information about how to protect your work if you are an artist or creator
With links to a wide range of organisations in the UK and worldwide, the Copyright Hub aims to simplify the licensing process, making it easier for people to legally use creative works so that artists are protected and receive payment when due.
DACS is pleased to be part of the pilot site as an organisation representing the rights of visual artists and offering a licensing solution to those who want to reproduce work by the artists we represent.
Visit the site at
www.copyrighthub.co.uk.
Background to the Copyright Hub
Overseeing the development of the Copyright Hub is the Copyright Hub Launch Group (CHLG), chaired by Dr Richard Hooper CBE. The CHLG includes key members of the copyright community in the UK and across the creative industries.
The Hub was initially conceived as the ‘Digital Copyright Exchange’ in Professor Ian Hargreaves' 2011 report Digital Opportunity: review of intellectual property and growth.
The vision was to provide a one-stop-shop for the buying and selling of creative content, with the focus on making copyright licensing easier in the digital age.
In November 2011, Dr Richard Hooper, was appointed by the Government to lead a feasibility study on developing a Digital Copyright Exchange. In his report Copyright Works: Streamlining copyright for the digital age, published last year, he recommended the creation of a UK-based Copyright Hub.
The first phase has been funded by a £150,000 grant from the Government. The second phase of site will include information on more organisations involved in copyright. Further copyright organisations will be added to the site later this year as part of the current pilot phase. Development of the Copyright Hub will continue in 2015.
You can find out more about the development phases of the portal in Charting a course for the Copyright Hub.
Feedback on the current pilot site is welcomed – you can send your thoughts via the Copyright Hub.