Safeguarding creativity: the importance of IP in the creative industries

Why is IP important for creators?

Andrea Czapary Martin:

The music industry is ever-changing and ever-growing, with UK created musical works achieving incredible success both at home and abroad. The UK’s legislative framework provides a high level of protection for intellectual property and as such, IP has been and remains fundamental to the vibrancy of the creative industries.

The 175,000 talented songwriters, composers, and music publishers that PRS for Music represents rely on a robust copyright regime to ensure they are paid when their works are used, allowing them to reinvest in future creative endeavours. Not only do IP rights drive innovation and economic growth across the music industry, but the fundamental principles of authorisation and remuneration are what turn the art of making music into a viable career. For over 110 years, PRS has proudly protected and promoted the rights entrusted to us by the songwriting community. After all this time and throughout technological evolution, IP protections are more important now than ever.

Christian Zimmermann:

Intellectual Property protection, especially copyright, is important for all creators, and in particular for visual artists who tend to have to sell the original work in order to earn a living. Copyright gives artists the right to control how and when their work is used, and to receive royalties from the ongoing use of their works, providing an income for them and their families. Many artists also use their Intellectual Property to manage their reputation by strategically choosing uses they permit, having a right to be credited and preventing the misuse of their works.

Through the Artist’s Resale Right, they also have an ongoing stake in the trading value of their works by receiving royalties when their works are being resold in the art market. Visual artists often work as freelancers without the security of traditional employment benefits like paid leave, sick pay, or pensions – their intellectual property can prove a vital revenue stream that sustains them during periods when they don’t create new work. Much like physical property, it can also be left to their heirs, which continues to providing ongoing support for beneficiaries looking after their legacy.

Copyright is therefore an essential instrument in an artist’s career, helping them manage the use of their works whilst providing a vital income stream for them and their heirs.

Why is it important for the different creative industries sectors to work together in the face of common challenges for creators, such as AI?

Christian Zimmermann:

The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is yet another technical development presenting both opportunities and challenges for creators. This is nothing new and throughout history, new technologies—from cameras to the internet—have prompted concerns over IP rights. The speed and scale at which AI is using works though is unprecedented and it does not discriminate between the different sectors of our creative industries.

With AI, the conversation is not new, but it requires more collaboration across creative sectors to protect creators’ interests effectively. When companies or platforms develop services like search engines, social media, or AI systems, they often use existing creative works without permission or compensation to the rightsholder.

This risks eradicating a large proportion of the creative industries, which only a few years ago during the global COVID-19 pandemic, were celebrated as one of our saviours, providing a vital escape and brightening our days by consuming the creations of others, by reading books, watching films and TV, listening to music, accessing a whole world of visual content online and so on.

AI promises to deepen our knowledge and streamline mundane tasks, but it’s essential that this progress is balanced with the protection of creators’ rights.

It is crucial that the creative industries work together to ensure creators are respected and fairly compensated whenever their works are used. By supporting positive developments in AI while prioritising recognition and remuneration for creators, we can harness the benefits of new technologies without sacrificing the livelihoods of those who enrich our culture.

Andrea Czapary Martin:

In our advocacy, PRS works in collaboration with DACS and many other organisations across the creative industries from publishing to film and TV. Collaboration between the cultural and creative industries is vital for effectively influencing and shaping the policy agenda. Despite each creative sector having its own unique challenges and ambitions, many of our overarching objectives are aligned. Importantly, we all rely on a robust copyright regime.

Thinking of recent cross-sector collaboration, we are united in our commitment to championing and preserving the inherent value of human creativity in the face of technological changes, namely generative AI. When the Government announced its intention to introduce a broad text and mining exception not long ago, the creative sectors came together to oppose it with one voice, and together we achieved a reversal of the proposal.