The Big Issue

How far reaching will be Google decision to pay?

- or Facebook' refusal? As the internet giants have sapped their content - advertising and news - the news organisations that have unwillingly fed them have shrivelled to mere shadows of their former glory. Are new copyright laws the game changer - and the 300 year old concept of copyright, to which the Stationers' Company can lay claim, converting the behemoths to curators of what they have helped to destroy? 

ABOUT COPYRIGHT IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Who We Are

This website, developed by The Stationers' Company in 2010 to mark the 300th anniversary year of the Statute of Anne, is a professional resource for those seeking information on the importance and value of Copyright to the UK‘s Creative Industries. The two most significant collections are those brought together for the publication "Copyright in the Digital Age" and the complete PhD thesis "Copyright for Publishers in the Digital Age" by now Prof. Aislinn O'Connell. The site contains articles and submissions by leading industry practitioners, lawyers and academics with practical experience of the importance of Copyright in the UK and the challenges to be faced with the development of the digital usage of copyright material. It will be of use to all who work in or have interest in the protection of intellectual property whether they be working in the sector, legislators academic and professional commentators or students.

COPYRIGHT-DEBATE.CO.UK CONTENT

An education resource marking 300 years since the birth of Copyright and

Stationers' Company's role in its creation

The Stationers' Company and Copyright

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The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers, one of 110 Livery Companies in the City of London, evolved from previously itinerant manuscript writers and illuminators who had taken up stationary positions around the walls of St. Paul's Cathedral and earned the nickname Stationers. It is a matter of pride for the Company that over 600 years later more than 90 per cent of its 1000+ members are from the industries which evolved from those original writers and illuminators which include paper, print, publishing of books, newspapers, magazines and online media, packaging, office products and broadcasting.

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One of the Company's other claims to fame (other than giving birth to the term Stationery that is) has to be its role in the creation of the concept of Copyright. As succinctly described by the Stationers' sponsored PhD, the now Dr Aislinn O'Connor, whose thesis forms a major part of this site:  “The control of the Stationers’ Company over printing in the UK was confirmed by the Licensing of the Press Act 1662....legislative and monopoly rights (that) were forerunners of copyright.  The (Stationers') Company used the support of authors to present two bills to Parliament aiming to introduce copyright, in 1707 and 1709. They both failed, but it was less than a year before the House of Commons formed a drafting committee for a bill on copyright. This would eventually become the Statute of Anne (in 1710).”

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This website, together with the book Copyright in the Digital Age which forms a second major section, were created to mark the 300th anniversary of this fundamental development in the subsequent evolution of Creative Industries in the UK and around the world.  The site contains articles and submissions by leading industry practitioners, lawyers and academics with practical experience of the importance of Copyright and the challenges to be faced with the development of the digital usage of copyright material. It exists as a resource for all who study or whose work involves in any way protection of intellectual property whether from a legal, legislative, academic and professional perspective or as students.

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CONTENTS

COPYRIGHT IN THE DIGITAL AGE -

Industry issues and impacts

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A collection of individual initial contributions forming a unique study of seemingly timeless industry issues and impacts on copyright in the digital age. The 24 contributors include the late Dame Helen Alexander, Lisbet Rausing, James Murdoch, the late Professor Iain Stevenson, John Hawkins  Laurence Kaye, Dr. Sarah Thomas and Michael Heaney. The book is published by

WILDY, SIMMONDS & HILL PUBLISHING

price £24.95.
To purchase your copy click here

Published: November 2010

Edited by: Trevor Fenwick, Ian Locks

ISBN13: 9780854900800

Hargreaves Report and Copyright Hub

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The Copyright in the Digital Age event at Stationers  Hall marking the 300th anniversary of the birth of Copyright saw the launch the publication of Copyright in the Digital Age and held within days of the then Coalition Government announcing an independent review of Copyright by Professor Ian Hargreaves. This led to the creation of the Copyright Hub amongst other key changes whose impact is still being felt.

FIT FOR CHANGE? - 

Copyright for Publishers in the Digital Age 

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A 260-page PhD thesis produced over a period of five years at UCL by now Dr. Aislinn O'Connor which examines the genesis of copyright, from its pre-existence days overseen by the Stationers' Company, through main developments to become a world-wide concept to the current struggles as the digital age unfolds with an expectation of free use of "the work of others".

......and so the life of Copyright goes on

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This site tracks key developments in the world of copyright - or copyright in the world depending on your viewpoint - including the future of UK Copyright post-BREXIT and how the Copyright Directive, developed to address changes driven by the swiftly changing digital world is becoming the front line of BREXIT divergence....machinations over the Database Directive...and Stationers' Company's ongoing involvement through sponsorship of bursaries to help ensure the next generation of copyright specialists.