Copyright in the Modern Era Presented by: Catriona MacLeod Stevenson (Publishers Association) Date: 26 March 2024 Copyright - A right of property - Not a monopoly - An incentive to create and invest - Preserves a balance Term - Literary, dramatic and artistic works author's life + 70 years - Arises automatically, no registration required - Territorial scope Life Plus 70: Why? Descendants And Lifespan - Term Directive 2006/116 (Recital 6) • "The minimum term of protection laid down by the Berne Convention, namely the life of the author and 50 years after his death, was intended to provide protection for the author and the first two generations of his descendants. • The average lifespan in the Community has grown longer, to the point where this term is no longer sufficient to cover two generations." - Sound Recording Term Directive 2011/77 (Recital 5) • "Performers generally start their careers young and the current term of protection of 50 years applicable to fixations of performances often does not protect their performances for their entire lifetime. • Therefore, some performers face an income gap at the end of their lifetime.' Descendants And 50 V 70 : An Example - Earliest works of Agatha Christie - US protection has expired - UK protection remains in place - UK rights owned by Agatha Christie Limited (created by the author and now chaired by her great grandson) Life Plus 70: Why? Incentive To Create And Invest - Enables right holders to take risks and recoup investment - Enables creators to create - Makes sense for authors + estates: rights usually revert to the author/estate if not exploited by the publisher - Enables successes which may come later in the term: - Subsidizes investment in new works/authors: - Orphan works a shorter term? Which Works Still Have Economic Significance In Latter Years Of Protection? - No 'formula' - Classic titles - Where there has been additional investment by publisher or by film/tv/games/merchandising partners - New translations of foreign works - Repackaging to appeal to new audiences - Where US protection has expired - Book Tok... After Expiry: Typographical Arrangement Protection? - There is clear commercial interest in publishing new editions of works in public domain - No author royalty is payable - Classics - many publishers have their own edition: an open market - Typographical arrangement offers relatively little protection/benefit - Protection can also be afforded by cover design or newly- commissioned introductions and notes - Currently a market for illustrated editions and graphic novels Copyright Challenges For Publishers In 2024 (Include, Without Limitation) - Piracy • Widespread unauthorized use of copyright protected material: SciHub, LibGen, Pdf-Drive, Oceanofpdf. - Unlawful parallel imports • Genuine editions created for other markets imported unlawfully into the UK (notably from the US and Indian subcontinent region) - Exhaustion of rights • - The UK's choice of exhaustion of rights regime post-Brexit Artificial Intelligence • Publishers are embracing Al but grappling with the unauthorized use of their works to train and operate gen Al models Human Creativity - Authors are bedrock of our sector - Derivative books trained on their creativity - sold alongside their own Intellectual Property - IP used without consent, credit or compensation - At input and output stage - Copyright infringement has taken place on a mass scale