LONDON, April 23 /PRNewswire/ --

- ALCS Seeks Resolution to the Conflict Between Writers & Users

As the debate over the future of creators' rights in the digital
environment gathers momentum, the Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society
(ALCS) seeks to strike a fair balance between writers' moral and economic
rights and the needs of the user.

The debate affects all creators

"The media are airing this debate in some depth now which is to
everyone's advantage," says ALCS's CEO, Owen Atkinson. "Their coverage has
produced a number of headlines, many focusing on the plight of the music
industry. It must, however, also be acknowledged that this is an issue for
all creators and of immediate concern for all audio- visual creators. This is
a pressing issue which must be resolved fairly. What is needed (and ALCS is
already involved in) is considered discussion between all the parties,
working towards a balanced solution. Whilst it's our job to ensure writers'
rights are respected and rewarded, we feel that there are solutions that will
be seen as fair to both creators and the consumer which should be debated
more widely."

Following the Gowers' Review of Intellectual Property the UK Intellectual
Property Office is in the middle of a consultation with all its stakeholders,
including ALCS, as to the best way forward.

Private copying proposals

The exceptions to copyright law proposed by the Review, whilst eminently
practical in setting out to achieve a system that is clear and fair for
consumers, must apply that same fairness of principle to the creator. Without
this, the incentives for creators to create, and writers to write, will
diminish.

Copyright can appear complex and opaque. Users need support to understand
that the essential purpose of copyright is to ensure a sufficient supply of
creative activity from which they benefit in a myriad of ways. Its underlying
purpose is to safeguard the economic and moral rights of creators. Whilst
technology has advanced considerably the underlying principles of copyright
remain the same as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
"everyone has the right to the protection of their moral and material
interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of
which he, or she, is the author.(1)"

All forms of creativity, including writing, contribute to the success of
the UK's economy, whilst copyright protection given to creators and other
right holders also protects the 7.3% of Gross Value Added (GVA)(2) to the
economy.

Whilst it is clear that the increased availability of written works as a
result of digitalisation offers golden opportunities to writers, the
increasing use of digital technologies has generated uncertainty over the
future of their economic and moral rights.

Along with all its realised and potential benefits, the digital age has
brought new freedoms and opportunities that enable users to copy, download
and distribute illegal copies of films, plays, television programmes,
electronic books, poems and journal articles without seeking permission from
right-holders. The process of copying and distributing works is now so easy
that it has produced an imbalance between the freedom of the user, the
profits of commercial intermediaries and the losses incurred by writers.

For example, the Gowers' Review recommends that 'private copying' be
decriminalised when users are copying legally-acquired content onto an
electronic device for personal, private use such as transferring music bought
on the internet to their iPod or MP3 player. This exception will not allow
any form of onward distribution for commercial gain or otherwise via an
electronic distribution network such as peer to peer or user-generated
websites. That is fair and practical for the consumer; however, it fails to
address the issue of the creator being given fair reward for the re-use of
that work. It also raises the issue of policing such an exception. Would it
be enforceable?

'Three strikes'

The Government's current initiative of 'three strikes and you're out'
concerning persistent downloaders of copyright-protected material and the
ISPs responsibility of following a warning procedure and then terminating
their account, is a noble message. However, public opinion expressed on
numerous websites following the sign-up of major ISPs to this principle
showed strongly that this was a step too far for the consumer, who felt their
privacy was being invaded and that the age of Big Brother had arrived.

One option to balance the interests of the user and creator in this
instance would be to consider a centralised remuneration scheme which is
commonplace in most European states. No comparable system exists or is being
proposed in the UK and as a result writers, along with all other creators,
are in danger of not receiving the economic and moral recognition that is
their right for the continued re-use of their work.

Internet piracy

For any solutions to advance and achieve that balance, we must take
account of the reality of the world in which we live. Consumers routinely
acquire content illegally and take value from copyright works at the expense
of the rights-holder. In 2006 alone, there was a 46% increase in illegal
downloads compared to 2005.(3) Any legislative and punitive frameworks need
to be sufficiently robust to take account of Becker's model of crime that it
is "a basic assumption of human behaviour that individuals will break the law
if the expected benefit is higher than the risk of detection and the scale of
the potential punishment."

"At ALCS we are looking to work collaboratively with other societies and
organisations representing the moral and economic rights of creators," says
Owen Atkinson. "Thanks to the energy and enthusiasm of the recently formed
parliamentary All Party Writers' Group (APWG) under the chairmanship of Dr
Ian Gibson MP, we are in a position to raise awareness amongst our
politicians as to the importance of this issue. The next APWG on 6 May seeks
to bring together the chairs of the All Party Groups who represent the
interests of the diverse creativity of the UK. At the same time we are
exploring ways to help users understand the benefit of creativity and the
value of copyright.

Notes for Editors

About ALCS

ALCS collects fees on behalf of the whole spectrum of UK writers:
novelists, film & TV script writers, literary prize winners, poets and
playwrights, freelance journalists, translators and adaptors, as well as
thousands of professional and academic writers who include nurses, lawyers,
teachers, scientists, and college lecturers. All writers are eligible to join
ALCS: further details on membership can be found at http://www.alcs.co.uk

ALCS - History, Status & Commitment

The Society is a not-for-profit company and was set up in 1977 in the
wake of the campaign to establish Public Lending Right to help writers
protect and take advantage of their secondary rights. The Society is
committed to ensuring that the rights of writers, concerning their
intellectual and moral property, are fully respected and fairly rewarded. To
achieve this, the Society is also committed to fostering an awareness of
copyright issues in the writing community and beyond.

The Society collects fees that are difficult, time-consuming or legally
impossible for writers and their representatives to claim on an individual
basis: money that is nonetheless due to them. Fees collected are distributed
to writers twice a year in March and September. Since its inception, ALCS has
distributed over GBP170 million to the nation's writers.

ALCS - Sources of Income

ALCS has developed highly specialised knowledge and sophisticated systems
which track writers and their work (both print and audiovisual) against
various secondary uses for which they are due payment. The main sources of
fees due are secondary royalties from: photocopying (through the Copyright
Licensing Agency which is jointly owned by the ALCS and the Publishers
Licensing Society); international Public Lending Right; cable retransmission;
fees from the Educational Recording (ERA) and sources such as blank tape and
machine levies for private copying and small miscellaneous literary rights).

ALCS - The International Picture

The Society is recognised internationally as a leading authority on
copyright matters and authors' interests. It maintains a close watching brief
on all matters affecting copyright both in the UK and around the world and
makes regular representations to the UK government and to the European
Commission. ALCS pays royalties to member writers based in 137 countries
around the globe. ALCS has reciprocal arrangements with over 50 collecting
societies around the world.

The All Party Writers Group (APWG)

The APWG is a forum for elected Parliamentarians in Westminster to
consider & discuss matters of importance to writers. As a focal point for
authors' interests, with its links to UK writer organisations, APWG is well
placed to draw attention to the current issues facing writers amongst an
audience of decision-makers at Westminster and beyond. It is chaired by Dr
Ian Gibson MP with Dennis McShane MP as vice-chair and Ed Vaizey MP as
Secretary. The affairs of the APWG are administered by ALCS. See
http://www.apwg.co.uk for further details.

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(1) Article 27, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

(2) 2004 figure, Creative Industries Economic Estimates Statistical
Bulletin, DCMS, September 2006

(3) UKIPO figures, 2007

Contact information: ALCS, The Writers' House, 13 Haydon Street, London
EC3N 1DB, Tel: +44(0)20-7264-5700; email: alcs@alcs.co.uk. Website:
http://www.alcs.co.uk