Copyright Education through Collective Management of Rights

John-Willy Rudolph, Executive Director of Kopinor
Speech at the 5th IPA Copyright Conference, Accra, Ghana, 20 to 22 February, 2002

Educating right holders and the general public on the complex rules governing copyright law is a difficult and time-consuming task. The task has become even more cumbersome in view of the evolving digital technologies.

Not long ago I spoke to my good friend, the Mexican publisher Hugo Setzer. He told me that when they set up CemPro, the Mexican reproduction rights organisation (RRO), it had been self evident for him and his colleagues that the RRO would have three main tasks:

1. Licensing users for the photocopying of copyright works, including collection and distribution of fees
2. Educating the public about copyright
3. Fighting piracy

It is clear that these three tasks re-enforce one another when properly performed. With this as my starting point, I would like to say some words about the role of collective management organisations, or more specifically, reproduction rights organisations or RROs, in copyright education.

At its centenary meeting in April 1996 in Barcelona, the 25th Congress of the International Publishers Association (IPA) passed an important resolution. The resolution noted that lack of adequate protection of copyright in a number of countries, and especially the widespread unauthorised photocopying of education texts, constrains the development of book industries. As an important response, the resolution calls for the creation of an independent Reproduction Rights Organisation (RRO) in all countries of the world where such organisations have not yet been established.

This resolution was a resounding endorsement of the work of the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO) and its development programme, which encourages and supports any joint effort by authors and publishers in any nation to form an RRO.

IFRRO began, as many of you know, in 1980 as a working group of the Copyright Committee of the International Publishers Association and the International Group of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers (STM). It was at the May 1984 meeting in Oslo that this working group became an informal consortium called the International Forum for Reproduction Rights Organisations. In 1988 IFRRO became a formal federation eligible to speak on behalf of its constituents before various international bodies.

Today, IFRRO has RRO members in approx. 40 countries around the globe. They collect photocopying fees and levies of about US$ 350 million annually. But they also play an important role in copyright education. How?

I will have to speak from my own experiences as the manager of the Norwegian RRO, Kopinor. Kopinor was established in 1980 by Norwegian creators and publishers. The main aim was the licensing of photocopying and similar reproduction of published works for use in education and within private and public enterprises. The right holders in the print industry had realised that photocopying could not be stopped, and that if you cannot stop people from copying, you must license them.

Today Kopinor collects approx. US$ 20 million in photocopying fees annually. This equals almost US$ 5 per capita. After subtracting around 10 % for operating costs, approx. 80 % of the proceeds are distributed to domestic right holders, and 20 % to foreign right holders. The money we pay out to the creators and the publishing industry is highly appreciated and of great importance in our small country with a population of 4.5 million.

Through its licensing activities, Kopinor has created relationships with all sectors of society, and has thereby been given a unique opportunity to educate users on the basic principles of copyright and collective management of rights.

The most important informational element is the posters, which we ask users to put up near their copying machines. Our posters can be found in all educational institutions, most central and local government offices, in most banks, insurance companies, churches, law offices, and in many of the 15,000 other private corporations and businesses, which we have licensed. In fact this constitutes information to the general public. In addition to the posters, we distribute stickers, brochures and newsletters. We also distribute our annual report and accounts widely, as we regard complete transparency as an absolute necessity for an RRO.

We further maintain a large web site where all types of users can find their respective licenses in full text, in addition to the mentioned information material, links to the Copyright Act and an abundance of other copyright related information. (We also offer information in English and a number of other languages. Check out www.kopinor.no.)

Of course, our licenses never allow the user to copy more than a minor portion of a book, and usually no more than a chapter. (If they need more, we offer to clear rights on a transactional basis.) We always encourage the user to buy the original product. However, an important element in informing about the rules governing the licenses, is, as mentioned earlier, explaining the basics of copyright.

Travelling abroad, I often meet people who presume that Norwegians generally must have a very good understanding of the basic principles of copyright. From time to time we have surveys conducted to check out the knowledge of teachers, company employees and so forth. I would not be truthful if I did not admit that the results usually are not very encouraging. While we feel that we help people so that they can avoid breaking the law, and that they should be most grateful for our services, most users sadly do not see it quite that way. Most school teachers say that if a license were not available, they would go on photocopying and thereby break the law. Modern technology makes exploitation of copyright works both very easy and very tempting.

However, we do find that many people express a maybe vague, but positive attitude to copyright as such. And many also demonstrate a generally positive attitude towards Kopinor, even if they are rather confused about what an RRO really is. Probably this should encourage us, if we take into account the complex rules governing copyright? Maybe this is an achievement, after all?

My Mexican friend mentioned fighting piracy as an important task for an RRO. Piracy is not really a problem in my country, so allow me to call your attention to a most thought-provoking article in the June/July 2001 issue of the British journal Copyright World on the fight against book piracy in India. The author, Advocate Akash Chittranshi, is one of the speakers at this conference. In the article he states that setting up and effectively operating a reprographic collecting society is one of the comprehensive remedies needed if one wishes to deal successfully with the piracy problem.

In countries where piracy exists, fighting the pirates effectively in the courts and in the media must be a prime tool in educating the general public about copyright. On the other hand, if right holders do not take necessary action against the evils of piracy, such a passive attitude will undermine basic respect for copyright in a most dangerous manner.

Mr. Chittranshi’s article clearly indicates that when efforts are made to stamp out piracy, a functioning RRO represents an important safety valve, which allows users to comply with copyright law in a manner, which helps to maintain respect for the basic principles of intellectual propert rights. RROs are set up to solve copyright problems for users and rightsholders. They help let all parties learn by doing!

I said earlier that piracy is not a problem in my country. However, with the arrival of the Internet we have come across new types of illegal use of copyright material, and Kopinor has been requested by right holders to undertake new and demanding enforcement tasks, where educating the public is a major element.

Since 1995 Kopinor has regularly contacted web sites, which display copyright works without the permission of the right holders, and has managed to get unauthorised material removed from a number of sites. Last year composers, lyricists and music publishers asked us to step up this activity. In December 2001 we began a broad and vigorous campaign against 60 Norwegian web sites, which were making available large amounts of lyrics and musical scores without permission. This time around we had been authorised to threaten with legal action. And we publicised the URLs of the infringing sites on our own home page.

The campaign soon caught the attention of the media, and we were given a good opportunity to educate the general public about copyright. The infringing material has in most cases been removed. However, when I left Norway last week we were preparing legal action against one web site. Another web site, with almost 1,000 songs, was moved abroad. We found it on a server in New Jersey in the USA, but the Internet Service Provider (ISP) owning the domain name was located in the Netherlands. Once approached by us, the ISP closed down the mirror site. But on a news group the anonymous culprits behind the site promised to create a series of mirror sites in different countries. This demonstrates that international co-operation will be needed in the struggle against this type of illegal use of copyright works.

Right holders in my country invariably want to make some of their material available on the Internet. Copyright law clearly only allows the user to study such material on screen. Making a print out or downloading from the Internet is not permissible, unless permission is granted, or it is permitted by law. (In my part of the world the law only permits the making of copies for private use, e.g. for use in the circle of family and friends.) Kopinor has developed model copyright notices for web sites, CD-ROMs and various other media, thereby assisting right holders in giving relevant copyright information to users. (An English translation of these copyright notices can be found on our web site.)

In conclusion, I would like to mention one more example of collective management organisations playing an important role in the field of copyright education. In Norway Kopinor, together with five other collecting societies, operates Clara, an Online Information Centre for Copyright and Clearance.

Clara is a web site featuring information about rights clearance for many categories of copyright protected material for various types of uses. Copyright management organisations in many other countries have in a similar manner demonstrated their strength and importance by providing similar services. In countries where computers are widely available, Internet is without doubt an important new medium for educating people about copyright. Clara also has some material in English, and links to similar services in other countries, so please pay a visit to www.clara.no.

I hope that I with these few words have demonstrated that RROs can play and are playing a useful and important role in copyright education. I would have liked to spend some time on the question of copyright education for right holders. We often come across shocking lack of knowledge of copyright both among writers and other creators, as well as among employees of publishing houses. We spend quite a lot of energy on educating individuals among these major stakeholders.

But I choose to assume that our audience here today knows as much about the state of affairs in the publishing industry as I do. I encourage all publishers to create copyright education programmes for their employees, and I recommend that you seek the assistance of your local RRO. I am sure that my colleagues around the globe are willing to contribute to such an effort.

Thank you for your attention.