Steps to Global Licensing Success

Tracey Armstrong

Published online: 10 February 2012

� Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

Abstract The impact of evolving technology on those who create content and

those who use it has raised many interesting copyright-related challenges that

legislators, copyright experts, authors, publishers and licensing organizations

around the world are looking to address. Several international initiatives underway

highlight the evolving global copyright landscape, including a report commissioned

by the UK government calling for the creation of a ‘‘Digital Copyright Exchange.’’

Through such international efforts—and through the content licensing experience of

collective management organizations—the best solutions to the copyright chal-

lenges of our time can deliver efficiency to everyone involved.

Keywords Publishing � Content � Copyright � Tablets � Digitization �Infringement � Intellectual property innovation � Licensing � Permissions �Platforms � Orphan works � Rights � Rightsholders � Smartphones

Platforms, Devices, Applications

These are the tools of the trade when it comes to digital publishing today. The

experience of consuming content—what was once no more than reading—has

moved well beyond the aging technology of ink and paper through mass media and

the personal computer to interactive, user-driven tools like tablets and smartphones.

It is clear, then: technology, and the ceaseless drive for innovation that it enables

and supports, will continue to transform the way we all receive and exchange

information across our organizations and geographic borders in the years ahead. The

digital revolution is changing how we learn, the ways we work, and even what we

create.

T. Armstrong (&)

Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA

e-mail: tarmstrong@copyright.com

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Pub Res Q (2012) 28:23–26

DOI 10.1007/s12109-012-9256-5

In many ways, these changes offer publishers, authors and other rightsholders

great opportunities to expand their audiences and allow users new ways to

collaborate and innovate using published information.

The impact of evolving technology on those who create content and those who

use it has also raised many interesting copyright-related challenges that legislators,

copyright experts, authors, publishers and licensing organizations around the world

are working to address. There are issues around digital content accessibility for the

visually impaired, orphan works and out-of-commerce works, licensing multi-

territorial secondary rights, and so much more.

Several initiatives underway highlight the evolving global copyright landscape.

A report by Professor Ian Hargreaves of Cardiff University, commissioned by the

UK government, made headlines when it stated that current copyright law in

the U.K. is a ‘‘regulatory barrier’’ to innovation and growth. The report called for

the creation of a ‘‘Digital Copyright Exchange’’ to address issues in existing

licensing procedures. It also recommended Orphan Works legislation under an

extended collective licensing model and urged support of the European Commis-

sion’s proposal for a cross-border licensing solution, including bulk licensing of

large digital collections and a ‘‘common code of practice’’ for copyright collecting

societies.

At the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), some members are

discussing the establishment of limitations and exceptions to copyright for the

visually impaired so that digital content is accessible to all while other members are

seeking private-sector alternatives that increase accessibility for the visually

impaired within the traditional scope of copyright. The Standing Committee on

Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) at the WIPO General Assembly is considering

a proposal for a new treaty on copyright exceptions for people who are blind or have

other disabilities. If the SCCR reaches consensus on the text of this agreement, which

can raise a host of issues about implementation on an equitable and administrable

basis, it is possible the treaty will come up for negotiation at an upcoming diplomatic

conference of WIPO.

In addition, WIPO will soon convene an international conference in Geneva on

copyright documentation and infrastructure. This is a topic that WIPO is paying

increasing attention to; rights information management is now recognized as crucial

for an effective, cross-border global licensing solution, and ultimately for simplifying

content access.

In September 2011, European libraries and representatives of authors, publishers

and collective management organizations in the European text- and image-based

content sectors, including the International Federation of Reproduction Rights

Organisations (IFRRO), signed an agreement on the digitization and licensing of

out-of-commerce works by publicly accessible cultural institutions in Europe. The

European Commission played a major role in getting this deal done and has stated

that the agreement is important for achieving wide public access to Europe’s

cultural heritage.

A recent study by the University of Amsterdam for Europeana—an online portal

for millions of digitized materials held by European museums, libraries and

archives—concluded that the most viable solution to address cross-border sharing of

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digital content from European cultural institutions may be best addressed by

voluntary licensing activities on behalf of collective management organizations

supplemented by legislative intervention.

In the US, a major push is underway on Capitol Hill to address the legal issues

raised by international rogue websites. About 170 organizations have joined

together in a letter to urge the US government to enact legislation to crack down on

rogue websites that are seen as violating US laws, including copyright, patent, drug

safety and consumer protection laws. The Coalition Against Counterfeiting and

Piracy unveiled a new video campaign to call attention to the infringement practices

of rogue websites.

For the creative industries, their intermediaries, and consumers, a standards

infrastructure effort is aimed at providing better management of rights data for end

users and partners in the supply chain. It includes plans to facilitate the creation of a

voluntary, but effective, market for automated and semi-automated rights trading.

This alliance is focused on a global, not a national or regional solution and depends

on collaboration by all parties involved.

Through such international efforts—and through the content licensing experience

of collective management organizations—the best solutions to the copyright

challenges of our time can deliver efficiency to everyone involved. Content users

want tools that make content licensing and compliance easy, fast and seamless.

They want the ability to maximize the opportunities that technology extends.

Authors and publishers are looking for ways to further their reach while

streamlining their rights and permissions processes.

But how to arrive at such a solution? According to the United Nations, the

number of Internet users has reached two billion people worldwide, while mobile

users have grown to over five billion. This is where collective licensing comes in.

Collective licensing gathers rights from many different copyright holders. Those

rights can be diverse in terms of the type of content they represent (such as a journal

article, a book chapter, a page, a paragraph, an image, etc.) and the types of uses

they allow (such as emailing content, posting on the Web or an intranet site, etc.).

Collective licensing centralizes rights, giving content users a much easier way of

getting the rights they need to share content from a number of different publications.

In this model, there is a centralized broker that collects royalties from many

different content users and distributes royalties to the appropriate copyright holders.

‘‘We need a global infrastructure that permits simple, global licensing, one that

makes the task of licensing cultural works legally on the Internet as easy as it is to

obtain such works there illegally,’’ said Francis Gurry, director general of WIPO, in

summarizing the value of voluntary collective licensing.

To see further the value of a collective licensing system, let’s take a closer look at

the content user in the corporate market. According to a recent survey by

independent research firm Outsell:

• 75% of workers share information with their team members weekly. Many of

them share it daily.

• On average, corporate employees forward content about 13 times per week.

That’s a jump of more than 60% from just 5 years ago.

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• Yet more than half of those surveyed either don’t think about copyright or don’t

care.

Clearly, these are trends that must be addressed. There are two steps all

rightsholders can take that can have a powerful effect on the value of their rights and

the ability of us all to foster a culture of respect for intellectual property rights.

The first step is to make it easy for content users to respect IP rights by offering

collective licensing. Many organizations can’t or won’t expend the resources to

negotiate individual licensing agreements with multiple rightsholders. Collective

licensing gives businesses and other organizations an efficient way to address many

of their information usage needs with a single license. It also gives rightsholders a

way to extend the value of their content in these markets.

Step 2 involves copyright education. In the corporate market, while employees

may not understand their rights and responsibilities related to copyright, most

companies where those employees work understand the importance of minimizing

the risk of infringement. Violating IP rights can damage a business’s reputation and,

in some cases, prompt litigation.

To promote responsible content usage, workers need copyright education, and

they need it in a way that makes it simple for them to understand their

responsibilities. Collective licensing organizations in text, music, film, and other

industries have taken steps to educate content users about the importance of

respecting IP rights.

About the Copyright Clearance Center

Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) is a rights broker for millions of the world’s most

sought-after materials, including print and electronic books, journals, newspapers,

magazines and more. Founded in 1978 as a not-for-profit organization, CCC promotes

the seamless sharing of knowledge by creating innovative licensing solutions that let

academic institutions and businesses quickly get permission to use copyright-

protected materials while compensating authors, publishers and other copyright

holders for the use of their works. For more information, visit www.copyright.com.

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