Clause 42 of the Digital Economy Bill will bring orphan works – works where the copyright owner cannot be identified – into the public domain. However it also includes a section that delegates to the Secretary of State the power to make regulations that confer the right to copy works without the rightsholder’s consent.
The bill says that the Secretary of State “may by regulations provide for authorising a licensing body to grant copyright licences in respect of works in which copyright is not owned by the body or a person on whose behalf the body acts.” Under current legislation, only the rightsholder of a work is able to issue licenses.
Straight from Parliament
The GIST Hub
Clause 42: License to license copyright
Clause 42 of the Digital Economy Bill will bring orphan works – works where the copyright owner cannot be identified – into the public domain. However it also includes a section that delegates to the Secretary of State the power to make regulations that confer the right to copy works without the rightsholder’s consent.
The bill says that the Secretary of State “may by regulations provide for authorising a licensing body to grant copyright licences in respect of works in which copyright is not owned by the body or a person on whose behalf the body acts.” Under current legislation, only the rightsholder of a work is able to issue licenses.
Further reading:
British Journal of Photography news article.