Copyright payments hit high
Copyright payments hit high
The consequences of the new EU copyright legislation are coming through in increased revenues for publishers. Commercial users will either absorb these extra costs or pass them on to the customers. The losers will be individual end users and very small businesses: (Ed.)
The Copyright Licensing Agency has made record payments to rights-holders for the use of their work. The CLA paid out £38.7 m to publishers and authors in 2002-2003, about 90 per cent higher than in the previous year. CLAs revenues have now doubled over five years. The increase was partly due to a flood of money withheld during the copyright tribunal case with Universities UK,which was finally resolved in 2002. The case cost the CLA £1.2 m. The CLA has increased its revenue from NHS licences and international receipts. It now hopes further to increase its distributions with the roll-out of new business licences. The recent EU copyright directive has tightened up laws which previously allowed businesses to claim exemption from paying for copying done for commercial purposes. CLA chief executive Peter Shepherd said the agency was working hard to increase compliance with copyright law in the light of the changes. “We are experiencing a noticeable steepening of the revenue curve rather than a sudden explosion of new business. Early signs are that the copyright message has to be pushed hard[er] still.”
Source: theBookseller.com Bulletin – Wednesday 3 March 2004
