The Campaign

THE CAMPAIGN

Welcome to Authors’ Rights For All – Campaign. Our Campaign aims to strengthen the rights of authors. We shall do this by:

• Building a global strategy for the defence of authors’ rights.
• Setting up coalitions between creators and other groups in civil society to fight for these rights;
• Sharing essential information between partners on legal actions, collective bargaining agreements and the latest political developments at national and international level.

HISTORY

A platform for the Campaign was agreed at a conference of authors, journalists and media professionals from 30 countries held at the British Library, London, from June 14th-June 18th 2000.

Behind this initiative is an international group of experienced campaigners for authors’ rights who have pledged to work together to oppose publishers and media owners who are hacking away at traditional standards of authors’ rights protection by demanding complete control over the use and re-use of our work.

Our constituency exists in countries around the world and we have the talent and creativity of foot soldiers who write throughout the media sector.

TARGET GROUPS

Our Campaign brings together writers, journalists, creators and trades unionists committed to justice and fair play over how content is used in mass media and new information services.

WHY

The issue we are dealing with – intellectual property – is the acknowledged gold dust of the new economy. Our people work with information, the most tradeable commodity in the world today and the economic currency of the future.

Exploitation of intellectual property rights is a topic for virtually every government, major company and every economic forum worldwide.

HOW

Our Campaign will strengthen rights by using a range of different tactics:

• Union Action: Negotiating and bargaining for rights at company level;
• Legal Action: Using the law to challenge violations of rules on copyright, and
• Political Action: Lobbying for international rules and trade agreements that strengthen authors’ rights protection.

STRUCTURE

1. The Campaign will focus on actions aimed at two target groups:

• Creators:
  authors, journalists, media professionals
• Civil society:
  human rights groups, trade unions, politicians and public officials, community organisations and employers

2. Central Theme: Moral Rights are Human Rights that should be universally respected.

3. Union Policies:

• Unions should accommodate freelance interests
• Unions should organise and negotiate authors’ rights for freelances and staff

4. Legal Policies:

• There should be a legal basis for licencing and collecting societies
• There should be legal protection for freelance workers and that they should have collective bargaining rights

AGENDA FOR ACTION

The Campaign seeks to achieve the following:

1. Carry out an international audit of copyright ownership and economy in the media Sector

2. Issue a code of conduct including common standards for licensing and collection services

3. Urge Unions to press for, without endangering to existing high standards,

• collective bargaining rights for freelances where they don’t exist
• authors’ rights for staff members

4. Prepare training materials for unions and for freelancers to improve the quality bargaining (recruitment information, model contracts, negotiating skills)

5. Prepare a strategy for education, training and raising awareness on moral rights and authors’ rights for our members and for others

6. Prepare a strategy for legal harmonisation and identify cases for action to challenge violations of rights

7. Fight proposals that create legal havens for low standards

8. Establish database and a campaign web-site providing information on:

• database: containing information on fees, contracts and bargaining agreements, on media companies providing a profile of ownership, and on legal cases
• web-site: providing links to contacts and allies, an agenda of activities, information on the Campaign and lobbying events and a discussion forum

9. Co-ordinate lobbying efforts by involving directly other creators’ groups and trade unions in the campaign

FURTHER INFORMATION

The details of the strategies we are using are set out above. If you want further information or if you want to join the Campaign please contact our campaign officer.