Committee (7th Day)

Part of Digital Economy Bill [HL] – in the House of Lords at 9:30 pm on 8 February 2010.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Lord Howie of Troon Lord Howie of Troon Labour 9:30, 8 February 2010

I apologise to my noble friend for entering this lengthy debate so late in the day. I do so at the instigation of the Periodical Publishers Association of which I am the vice-president. It is an unpaid post and not a very onerous one.

The PPA wants to draw attention to Amendment 282AZA. While it agrees that the licensing of orphan works is needed, it wants to know what an orphan work is. That brings us to the definition. The PPA thinks that the definition suggested in the amendment is vague and useless in any real sense. I had thought that since this relates to the Copyright Act 1988 there might have been a definition there. I could not find one, and I certainly do not remember one while the Act was being debated. The PPA considers that the definition should be much more precise than that proposed by the Government and that an orphan work should be a published copyright work where it is impossible after a reasonable search to establish the identity of or to locate the author or copyright owner of that work. That is not in the amendment. I do not want to go on about it but I hope that the Government will refer back to the PPA and discuss it.

While I am at it, let me say briefly that the PPA believes that the proposal to introduce extended collective licensing, which is in the same part of the Bill, is contrary to the fundamental principle that owners of literary and artistic works must consent to the exploitation of their work when the owner is known and can be located. I shall not detain the Committee any longer but I hope that my noble friend will reflect on the views of the PPA and reconsider the definition in the Bill.