Memorandum submitted by the British Copyright
Council
The British Copyright Council is a national
consultative and advisory body working on behalf of organisations
representing those who create, or hold interests or rights in
literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, and those who
give performances, or hold rights or interests in performances
under the Copyright Designs & Patents Act 1988 as amended.
The Council has no direct involvement with the
art market and no specialist knowledge of the way in which it
functions. We leave it to those professional organisations and
bodies which represent artists directly to comment in more detail.
We welcome increased Government interest in the status of the
creator and performer, and in this case, the artist. Creators
of all types make a major contribution to our creative, cultural
and media industries and they and their work should receive proper
respect, protection and remuneration.
We have watched the progress of the European
Directive 2001/84/EC with great interest and have been kept informed
of developments by those organisations on whose members it will
directly impact. Our member, the Design & Artists' Copyright
Society (DACS) in particular, has provided us with regular briefings.
In discussions with Government representatives
and with representatives of the European Commission, the Council
has over many years given its support to the harmonisation of
the resale right and its introduction in the UK.
The artists' resale right forms an integral
part of copyright and provides a means by which visual artists,
whose work is rarely reproduced to the same extent as that of
other creators and performers, can retain an economic interest
in their work.
All artists should have the opportunity to benefit
from the resale right whenever their work is resold. However,
we feel that it is particularly important to implement legislation
in the UK which ensures that younger and lesser known artists
will also reap its benefits. We therefore recommend that the Threshold
(Article 3) should be
l,000 and that a Royalty Rate (Article 5) of 5% should
be applied for the lowest resale price band.
It is also essential that every possible encouragement
is given to the Design and Artists Copyright Society, as the British
collecting society for visual artists, to manage the right on
behalf of British artists. It is our experience that collecting
societies such as DACS provide the best method for ensuring that
creators and performers receive their rightful share of certain
types of royalties, such as resale right payments.
If you would like further information or assistance
from the British Copyright Council, please do not hesitate to
contact me.
10 February 2005
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