1. The UK’s domestic orphan works
licensing scheme

2. Purpose and scope
• Economic & cultural benefits from allowing commercial
use of orphan works as well as non-commercial
• Orphan Works Directive focuses on digitisation by
publicly accessible cultural institutions to allow broader
access
• UK scheme will allow anyone to apply for a licence to
use an individual orphan work
• UK scheme will allow use of all types of works – incl:
stand-alone photos and wide range of unpublished material
• UK scheme will license range of rights allowing works to
be used in books, exhibitions, television programmes etc

3. Key principles
• Minimising market distortion between orphan & non-
orphan works
• Maximising the benefits to economic & cultural growth
• Minimising/eliminating perverse incentives/opportunities
to ‘orphan’ works
• Through these & other measures, to ensure adequate
protection for the interests of absent rights holders
• Two key safeguards to achieve these principles:
• Verification of diligent search by Government-appointed
authorising body
• Payment of remuneration at time of use, at rate appropriate to
type of work & type of use, set aside with authorising body in
case rights holder/s reappears

4. How the scheme will work
• If applicant does not qualify to use work under the
Directive they will need to apply to the authorising body
• Applicant will be given sector-specific guidance on
diligent search to follow/check
• If applicant can demonstrate to authorising body that
search has been sufficiently diligent (possibly overseas)
they may be granted a licence for specific non-exclusive
rights for a particular duration (time/print-run etc)
• Applicant will need to gain permission from any locatable
rights holders & search for all unlocatable ones (incl
embedded works)

5. How the scheme will work (continued)
• Working with stakeholders, competition authority &
economists to establish principles for setting rates of
remuneration – may use average of published rate cards
&/or average from invoices provided by potential
licensees for equivalent non-orphan works
• Where collecting societies already license equivalent
non-orphan works they could use existing tariffs,
providing they are transparent
• Remuneration held by authorising body for rights holder/s
• After a period of time unclaimed funds could be
distributed: cover costs of authorising body, paid back to
public institutions for archiving etc costs, paid into
industry benevolent/training fund

6. How the scheme will work (continued)
• Will assume moral rights have been asserted & credit
given for any known (but unlocatable) rights holder, plus
contact details of authorising body
• Authorising body will maintain register of works subject to
diligent search & those licensed
• Rights holders will be able to object to derogatory
treatment just as they can now if they have not waived
this right
• Authorising body will probably have discretion to refuse
license for use rights holder might consider derogatory

7. Benefits of commercial use
• Figures in impact assessment show wide range –
because benefits will depend on how much potential
licensees need to do before use is permitted
• The estimated potential benefit to archives, museums,
libraries and businesses and to the public could be as
high as £220m a year
• UK Government considers scheme will put rights holders
in better position than now – when works are either not
used or used unlawfully & increases chances of being
reunited with their works
• Scheme will mean that if user searches for rights holder
but cannot locate them search time is not wasted as they
will be able to use the work lawfully - unlike now