IPA - Reprographic Rights and the Visual Artist


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Reprographic Rights and the Visual Artist

by Dr. Michael Shapiro, Esq.

August 2001

The Illustrators’ Partnership wishes to thank the Santa Fe 2001 Illustration Conference attendees for their participation, comments and suggestions. We would like to offer this additional information to illustrators who have reason to expect his or her work might be subject to reprographic usage both in the U.S. and abroad.

What are Reprographic Rights?
As the creators of original works of art, artists have the right to decide when and where their works are reproduced (copied). Reprographic rights are a type of reproduction rights. The most common example is photocopying. Anytime a library patron uses a photocopy machine to copy protected works (whether text or visual art), the reprographic right is being exploited. But reprographic rights include much more than just photocopying. Reprographic rights also encompass, among other things, copying and storing creative works through microfilm, microfiche, computer and digital technologies. For many years, visual artists paid little attention to managing the reprographic rights in their works. But as the use of digital technologies by art creators and users rapidly increases, artists are beginning to recognize the importance of their reprographic rights.

How are Reprographic Rights Administered?
When an artist works with a client, rights are usually managed under an individual license or contract. For example, under the contract an artist may decide to grant "one-time, North American print rights" for a specific project. But managing reprographic rights is more difficult. For example, how would an artist living in San Francisco know if a library user in New York were photocopying her work without permission? Monitoring such secondary uses becomes even more difficult in today’s global market. To address these and other problems (such as the large number of works and artists), reprographic rights are often managed on a "collective" basis.

Under a collective administration approach, a single organization has the responsibility for monitoring and enforcing rights and for collecting and distributing royalties to the
rightsholder. In the United States, for example, the Copyright Clearance Center
(CCC) grants licenses to universities, libraries, corporations and other users for the photocopying of published materials. In the year 2000, the CCC returned $57 million to rightsholders (mostly publishers) for photocopying of printed pages in books, journals and other printed materials. The collection and distribution of royalties for use of reprographic rights abroad is accomplished under a network of "reciprocal agreements" between Reprographic Rights Organizations (RROs) around the world. Under these agreements, artists and writers outside of the United States annually receive compensation for the use of their reprographic rights. Regrettably, without an organization advocating the interests of professional illustrators, U.S. artists rarely, if ever, have received any compensation for the exploitation of their reprographic rights
abroad.

What is the IPA Doing about Foreign Reprographic Rights?
On June 25, 2001, at the Illustrators Conference in Santa Fe, the Illustrators’
Partnership of America (IPA) announced that it entered into a unprecedented three-year agreement with Fintage House, a well-respected European commercial rights administration company, to collect royalties on behalf of U.S. illustrators for the exploitation of their reprographic rights around the world, and return these royalties to illustrators. The agreement provides for the first time an opportunity for artists who have done work for either U.S. or foreign publications to receive a benefit from the photocopying and other uses of their works in foreign countries.

For over a year, we have made it part of the IPA mission to collect this money. Before the IPA, there was no organization in the U.S. that could effectively represent the interests of U.S. artists abroad with respect to receiving the benefit of the exploitation of their reprographic rights in foreign markets. During the first two years of the Fintage House agreement, revenues will be retained and used exclusively by IPA to establish a permanent licensing society for professional illustrators, and then IPA will distribute these royalties to illustrators on an ongoing basis. Because it was the wish of the IPA Board of Directors to extend this opportunity to IPA members and non members alike we drafted a contract for illustrators attending the Santa Fe Conference to review and contribute feedback. On the basis of comments and suggestions made there we are currently finalizing the terms of participation for non members.

Michael S. Shapiro, formerly General Counsel of the National Endowment for the Humanities, serves as an intellectual property specialist for international treaties at the US. Offfice for Patents and Trademarks. Michael Shapiro is a Founding Board Member of the Illustrators’ Partnership of America.