The International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO) has submitted comments on the proposed European Union directive on orphan works, which aims to increase legal certainty for use of creative works whose copyright holders cannot be found. The group, which represents collective management organisations, authors and publishers, called for collective management and licensing for orphan works.
“Orphan works should be administered through collective management and licensing,” the group said. “IFRRO members already have experience from administering uses of such works. Regulation and establishment of conditions for uses of an orphan work should be as decided by authors and publishers of the categories of works concerned. In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, the Directive should be without prejudice to the right of Member States to implement different solutions at national level.”
The EU process of considering the proposed directive is ongoing. Information may be found here.
IFRR’s comments are available here [pdf].