The management of copyright on the internet must be machine-mediated, using technology to do what it is good at – managing complex data to automate transactions. Systems are needed to identify content and who controls the rights in it; to identify users and usages; and automatically to link these together to complete transactions. Data must be accessible in registries, linked through a trusted messaging infrastructure; and linked to transactional systems to support diverse business models.
The power of the “semantic web” for linking data provides an infrastructure for automating permissions management and transaction. A “digital copyright” symbol will link users to human and machine readable copyright statements, licences and ecommerce engines. Delivery will involve diverse stakeholders – creators, right holders, service providers, data registries, standards organisations, rights users – collaborating to build an open, standards-based infrastructure. Using Linked Data, this infrastructure can be built a piece at a time, and can be as scalable as the internet itself.
Angela MILLS WADE (European Publishers Council, United Kingdom)
Nicholas BENTLEY (Independent, France)
Neil GAFFNEY (EMI Music Publishing, European Executive, United Kingdom)
Mark BIDE (Rightscom Limited, United Kingdom)
Contact in the Commission:
Jean-Eric DE COCKBORNE (European Commission, DG Information Society and Media, Belgium)