| It dates from the Hargreaves review of IP law.
Direct link,
pdf
(recommended reading, if you have a little time to spare)
'"Could it
be true that laws designed more than three centuries ago with the express
purpose of creating economic incentives for innovation by protecting creators'
rights are today obstructing innovation and economic growth?" According to
Hargreaves "The short answer is: yes.'
One of the recommendations (section
4.52) is to allow works to become orphaned where the owner of the copyright
cannot be traced. It proposes creating an electronic registry to make searching
for the rights holders easier, in effect broadening the gap between registered
and unregistered works.
Photographers, as a group, seem to have come out
strongly against this. Presumably they think it's too easy to lift images, and
then claim ignorance later.
I'm somewhat sceptical about their views
(although I admit not to have studied them in any depth), because in general, if
you have a good argument you make it at the time of the review. When special
interest groups try to get proposed legislation amended later by lobbying
politicans instead, it's more often than not for the general good. [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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