FORWARD project – Framework for a EU-wide Audiovisual Orphan Works Registry Kerstin Herlt, Association des Cinémathèques Européennes (ACE) Head of Office

1. Framework for a EU wide Audiovisual Orphan Works
Registry
EVA / MINERVA Conference, Jerusalem, 8-9 NOV 2015
Kerstin Herlt, Association of European Film Archives
Co-funded by the Community
programme ICT-PSP

2. • A TOOL TO ASSESS THE RIGHTS OF AV
WORKS (READY IN 2016)
• A REGISTRY FOR ORPHAN FILMS
• A PILOT PROJECT initiated by ACE and
funded by the EU
• CARRIED OUT BY 13 partners, with a focus
on FILM HERITAGE
WHAT IS FORWARD?

3. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
ACE SURVEY on ORPHAN FILMS 2010

4. ACE SURVEY on ORPHAN FILMS 2010
Production period (orphan works)

5. WHAT‘S THE PROBLEM?

6. • Hundreds of thousands of films with
unknown rights status
• A large part are considered ORPHAN
• Lack of reliable information to clear rights
• Lack of resources to identify rights holders
Rights Situation in Europe’s FHI

7. if you do not know
whom to ask for
permission, a user
cannot make use of
the work, without
infringing copyright.invest
considerable
resources to
locate the rights
owner
WHAT‘S THE PROBLEM WITH OW?
Copyright
Infringement
High Costs

8. FORWARD AIMS TO PROVIDE CLEAR
COPYRIGHT STATUS
? ORPHAN

9. What makes it complicated?
• FORWARD system builds on different
copyright legislations (10 Film
Heritage Institutions = 10 copyright
laws)
• EU Orphan Works Directive Dilligent
Search Guidelines

10. LEGAL DECISION TREE – Establish
Copyright Status for a Film made in NL

11. Key points of the EU Orphan Works
Directive
FHI has
Work
wish to
reuse
allowed
uses?
What ?
• public mission
inst.
• hold the work
• can make use of
the OW
• Diligent Search
• Producer’s country
• Data source
• Preservation
• Making
Available (
• Non-
commercial
• Cinematographic
audiovisual works
across the EU EU
• Diligent Search
• Producer’s country
• Data sources

12. Sources for a Diligent Search (AV)
• Diligent Search
• Producer’s country
• Data source

13. … transposed into national
Orphan Works Legislation

14. FORWARD WORKFLOW DILIGENT
SEARCH

15. Specifics of the AV sector
many authors: at
least four, so the
diligent search
must be
repeated n-
times.
lack of
national
registry, many
sources in
each country,
Feeding
missing data
in some
cases entered
manually
The DS must
be tailored on
national
legislations

16. FORWARD architecture

17. Summary of FORWARD goals
FO
RWARD
GOALS
Rights status
assessment
tool
Support
Diligent
Searches
Reduce
costs to clear
rigths
More films
with clear
rights
indication
Help FHI to
implement
OWDBuild a
registry of AV
Orphan Works

18. FORWARD (via ACE)
• Monitors the implementation the Orphan
Works Directive (OWD) in the Member
States
• Coordinates with OHIM (EU Orphan Works
Database)
WHAT ELSE ?

19. WHAT ELSE ?

20. Statistics OHIM Database
Countries with orphan
works registered in
database
Total = 11
Orphan Work database
records = Total 1352
Orphan AV Works = 733
Countries with no orphan
works registered in
database
Total = 20
September 2015
Source: Office for the Harmonisation
in the Internal Market

21. EXPECTED FORWARD BENEFITS
Time saving
Flexible, adaptable to different
legal frameworks
Facilitate rights information
management
Copyright status identification
Registry of AV Orphan Works

22. forward@cinematek.be
www.project-forward.eu

23. Contact:
ace@deutsches-filminstitut.de
forward@cinematek.be
www.project-forward.eu