4 May 2013

Gwen Thomas, the AOP's Business & Legal Director encourages all AOP members to register with PLUS.

"The ERR bill has gone through the two Houses and received Royal Assent and, despite the level of noise made by many in the creative industries, it went through with minimal changes.

"Whilst the Bill includes ‘enabling‘ clauses — allowing future changes to copyright law to go through with only minimal scrutiny — changes in copyright law have not actually been agreed by Government. Consultation through a number of round table meetings with industry bodies, including the AOP, are ongoing in a bid to shape future legislation. However, photographers must start NOW to ensure their work is as protected as humanly (or digitally!) possible through metadata and registries.

"PLUS is an American online resource supported by many companies and visual creators and through them you can get a free basic membership which includes a listing in their registry. To get a unique identifier you need to upgrade to supporting membership – the cost for this is $125, but AOP members get a $50 discount by selecting AOP when registering.

"We urge all members to register and start using the identifier now!"

Information on PLUS can be found at www.PLUSregistry.org