Jacksont, T

English

Solent Electronic Archive

	











 

 !!∀!#######!	
∃%&

∋(

 !!!)∗+,!
	
	
	
	
			
	
	
Should there be a collecting society for photography? 
Collecting societies, also known as Copyright collectives or collecting agencies, are bodies 
WKDWDUHFUHDWHGZLWKWKHSXUSRVHRIPDQDJLQJWKHULJKWVRILW¶VPHPEHUV7KLVPHDQVWKDW
collecting societies are responsible for granting licences and collecting royalties on behalf of 
all the members. Collecting societies make it easier for Copyright owners to be identified as 
works are registered and easier for third parties to obtain licences. 
There are collecting societies all over the world and they often specialise in a particular type 
of intellectual property. For example, the PRS is the collecting society for music and 
performing rights. The PRS grants licences and collects royalties from venues that wish to 
play music in a public place. An example might be a fitness club wishing to play music in a 
aerobics class. 
Collecting societies for music, literature and art work are common but this is not the case for 
photography. One might perhaps assume that photography is included within art work, 
however, collecting societies such as the Design and Artists Copyright Society Ltd (DACS 
IRFXVYHU\PXFKRQDUWZRUNLQWUDGLWLRQDOVHQVHHJSDLQWLQJV7KH$UWLVWV¶
Collecting Society (ACS, 2014) does make reference to photographers but seems to attract 
largely artists who produce paintings and only has 800 members, which is a low volume 
compared to the 80,000 members that DACS has. The question that remains is why a 
FROOHFWLQJVRFLHW\GRHVQ¶WH[LVWVROHO\IRUSKRWRJUDSKHUVDQGZKHWKHURQHLVUHTXLUHG 
The large stock image libraries like Corbis and Getty might be considered to act like a 
collecting society as they allow photographers to upload their work and licence it through the 
stock image library. However, the recent events with Getty (cited BBC News, 2014) deciding 
to allow images to be licensed for free in return for a credit and a link back to the image on 
Getty is a reminder that they are a commercial organisation interested in profit as opposed to 
being primarily concerned with the rights of the contributing photographers. On the other 
KDQGKRZHYHU*HWW\¶VSROLF\RQFRS\ULJKWLQIULQJHPHQWLVWRDFWLYHO\VHHNRXW
LQIULQJHPHQWVDQG³WXUQLQIULQJHULQWRFXVWRPHUV´E\VHOOLQJWKHPDOLFHQFHZKLFKXOWLPDWHO\
benefits the photographer. The relationship between photographers and picture libraries is 
mutually beneficial in this regard and may well negate the need for a traditional collecting 
society. 
7KH&RS\ULJKW+XERQHRIWKH8.¶VRIILFLDOVRXUFHRI&RS\ULJKWJXLGDQFHVXJJHVWV
that image owners wishing to join a collective licensing organisation should either join 
DACS (2013) or submit their work to a picture library, such as Getty (cited BBC News, 
2014). The sheer number of contributing photographers to Getty (cited BBC News, 
2014) might suggest that photographers see more value in using a picture library to licence 
their images directly rather than using a collecting society; unlike collecting societies, this 
URXWHGRHVQ¶WUHTXLUHSKRWRJUDSKHUVWRSD\DIHHXSIURQW 
$WSUHVHQWWKHUHGRHVQ¶WDSSHDUWREHDUHTXLUHPHQWIRUDSKRWRJUDSK\VSHFLILFFROOHFWLQJ
society. As UK Copyright law continues to develop and debates continue over how orphaned 
works can be used, we may see a greater demand emerge for a facility to register ownership 
of intellectual property. A more generalised demand for the ability to register ownership may 
result in the consolidation of collecting socities or the development of the Copyright Hub into 
a Digital Copyright Exchange (cited Hargreaves, 2011) as originally planned. There is 
consequently little evidence to suggest that a collecting society specifically for photography 
exists or is required either now or in the future. 
  
References 
 
$UWLVW¶V&ROOHFWLQJ6RFLHW\$&6 ACS ± About Us. [online]. Available 
from: http://artistscollectingsociety.org/about-acs/ [accessed 25/04/2014]. 
 
BBC News, (2014). Getty makes 35 million photos free to use. [online]. Available 
from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-26463886 [accessed 11/04/2014]. 
 
Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS), (2013). Get the copyright revenues you 
deserve. [online]. Available from: http://www.dacs.org.uk/ [accessed 24/07/2013]. 
 
Getty, (2014). Getty Images policy on unauthorized use (updated). [online]. Available 
from: https://contributors.gettyimages.com/article_public.aspx?article_id=889 [accessed 
28/04/2014]. 
 
Hargreaves, I. (2011). Digital Opportunity: A Review of Intellectual Property and Growth. 
[online] Available from:http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ipreview-finalreport.pdf [accessed 
23/07/2013]. 
 
The Copyright Hub, (2013). Join a Licensing Organisation. [online] Available 
from:http://www.copyrighthub.co.uk/protect/Join/ [accessed 28/04/2014]. 
 


Should there be a collecting society for photography?

http://ssudl.solent.ac.uk/2985/1/Should%20there%20be%20a%20collecting%20society%20for%20photography.pdf

Should there be a collecting society for photography?

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Solent Electronic Archive