Minister to address copyright event
Government Minister Janet Anderson will speak to a union-backed conference on March 14.
Anderson, Minister for Tourism, Film, and Broadcasting at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, is due to make the key-note speech at a conference organised by the Creators' Rights Alliance (CRA).
Entitled "The value of creative rights in 21st century broadcasting", the event is supported by all trade unions in the audiovisual and publishing sector who are affiliated to the CRA, and brings together a wide spectrum of rights' holders and campaigners.
Other speakers at the event, to be held at the National Film theatre, include Alan Plater, Billy Bragg, and cartoonist Steve Bell.
The CRA is aiming to secure better legal protection for authors' rights, both inside the UK, and in Europe, where copyright legislation is being reviewed.
Creative workers have reported increased efforts by employers over recent years to deprive them of authors' rights to the material they produce.
Broadcasters have been condemned by the Alliance for demanding that rights' holders should waive their entitlement to royalties and other payments as a condition of employment.
In the TV industry BECTU is currently involved in a campaign to win payments to directors for transmissions of programmes they have made. Performers and creators in other sectors also face employers who insist on annexing all intellectual rights to audio-visual and written work, often demanding that rights should be surrendered "for all media whether invented or not, throughout the universe in perpetuity".
Trade unions believe that contracts of this kind deny creative workers the fair fruits of their endeavours, and amount to an attack on wages and conditions.
The March 14 conference is hoped to improve cooperation between groups and individuals who are concerned about the erosion of creative rights, and may lead to more intense campaigning in the run-up to a General Election.
For more details of the conference, which runs from 1.30pm to 4.30pm, call Carmel Bedford on 020 7436 7296. E-mail:[email protected]