16 April 2013

Photography icon and ex-AOP member David Bailey, has written to George Osborne about the copyright clause in the Enterprise Regulatory Reform Bill (ERRB).

Bailey was approached by The British Press Photographers' Association (BPPA) to write to cabinet members on behalf of all owners and creators of intellectual property and chose to direct his comments to Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne MP.

His "Dear George" letter states how appalled he is at the way the government is approaching the whole subject of photographers' rights, weighs in on the continual creation of new orphan works due to metadata being stripped from files and re-asserts the case for Moral Rights.

He charges the government with being in danger of putting "the cart before the horse" in not waiting for the Copyright Hub to be developed and signs off with the battle cry "It's not too late to think again!"

The full text of the letter can be read on the BPPA site.