Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property

Written evidence submitted by Richard Kenward

I’ve been a professional photographer working for industry and the world of fine art since 1963.

· Moral rights

· Identification of ownership of photographs

· Reasonable financial redress for unauthorised use of photographs

· Human and artists rights

1. The moral rights of creators have still not been made unwaivable as in other EU countries.

2. The identification information that enables the tracing of the copyright owner of creative material (metadata) can be removed with impunity by those who feel so inclined with no sanctions whatsoever unless it can be proved that it was their intention to deceive by so doing. This is almost impossible in most cases to prove and the cost both financial and time wise of bringing a sucessful action is beyond the resources of most creative workers. This renders creatives' material as "Orphans" Also the review proposes allowing orphan works to be used for commercial purposes further undermining the many hundreds of thousands of creative workers here in the UK. I understand that there are very reduced remedies for unauthorised use where the work has not been registered. It is going to be a huge burden for in particular professional photographers to have to register every picture that they produce. This will be very difficult for a busy photographer and even more so in the case of an amateur, who is not likely to understand the need and is going to be penalized.

3. Many in big business already take advantage of the inadequate provisions for redress by working on the basis that the penalties for being caught stealing the work of creatives makes it well worth the risk. This is because the small man/women has inadequate resources both in time and financially to take them on, and the best they can expect for their trouble is obtaining what was their right in the first place. There should be punitive damages to protect the creator to put a stop to this abuse. Just imagine a situation where you are caught walking out of the door of a shop with things you have failed to paid for, in the knowledge that if caught all you will have to pay is the cost of the goods. This is where many in the creative industries find themselves today.

4. Artists rights have not been recognised as human rights by Hargreaves IP review. Both the UN and EU Human Rights act have declared that artists rights are also human rights. Creators are not given a level playing field with industry. They are very vulnerable yet have a significant part to play in the recovery and the prosperity of the UK.

Conclusions

The implementation of the report as it presently stands is likely to result in great damage to all who work in the creative industries. In particular the one men bands and small companies who make up the majority of workers in the creative industries, who through their dedication and brilliance enrich and bring prosperity to our great country.

5 September 2011