Content industry embarks on copyright project

Executives from news media, publishing, TV, film, music, IT and Internet media businesses have teamed up with existing standards and licensing organisations to work in coalition on a cross-media global project that will result in better and easier management of copyright in the online world, The Information Daily reports.

The Linked Content Coalition (LCC) launched officially on 25 April, on the eve of World Intellectual Property Day. Its remit is to work over the next 12 months to create the right conditions for a fully connected standards-based rights management and communications infrastructure. This will enable businesses and individuals to go with the grain of technology to manage their rights, and communicate information about them to users, much more effectively online.

Out-Law.com quotes the LCC as saying: "In order to grow the digital economy for the benefit of businesses and consumers alike, a more effective and universal deployment of technology is required to make copyright work on the Web. LCC's role will largely be to encourage existing standards organisations to work together to develop a common communication for cross-media rights management.

"Participants in the project will be tasked with identifying what works, what doesn't work, what exists already and what is yet required. Recommendations will be made and technical work will be undertaken to lay the foundation for a fully connected standards-based communications infrastructure to facilitate the management of online copyright."