How The Copyright Hub Wants To Bring Licensing Up To Date

A non-profit organisation, launched today, will act as a resource, portal and forum for all those involved in copyright to assist with the process of licensing

The Copyright Hub, a web portal and collaborative forum for creative sectors in managing issues regarding copyright, today launched as a pilot to help bring copyright licensing up to speed with the digital age. Key among the services of the industry-led, non-profit organisation is helping rights users, such as publishers or journalists, to get licences for copyrighted works by providing information and linking to relevant organisations.

"The three driving features of the Hub," said Richard Hooper, chair of the Copyright Hub Launch Group, "are, firstly, how do you find your way through the complexity, secondly, how do you get permission to use stuff which is licensed and then, thirdly, how do creative people protect their work."

Raising awareness of copyright law around the internet was a key component put forward by the 2012 report Copyright Works, authored by Hooper and Dr Ros Lynch in response to concerns raised by the Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property and Growth, stating that "copyright infringing websites are easier to use by consumers than legal websites".