Conference on the
Role of Copyright Registries in Global Digital Networks

Copyright Registries have historically provided authors and other rightholders some useful tools that granted legal certainty not only to creators but also to those who later on exploited their creations. The importance and legal strength of these Registries have progressed throughout the years and territories, with countries with a mandatory system of work registration, while in others the work was deemed protected with its mere creation.

Although some people doubt the usefulness of Registries, it's undoubtedly that these provide security to third parties and precise information about the right owners of an artistic work, while permit the creator to have a valid proof suitable to be used on trial. Registries are specially useful in the digital age where anybody can become a creator, and where the easy dissemination of a work uploaded on the Internet facilitate infringers to plagiarize third parties' works. These Registries, whether they are public or private, are equally important for preserving our artistic and cultural heritage through the maintenance of a rich database that, if desired by the rightholders, could be accessed by anyone in the world.

Nowadays, thanks to the universality of the Berne Convention and to the new technologies, the use of Copyright Registries has increased, provoking at the same time the establishment of organizations that provide this same service with a strong support on technologies and secure protocols. This proliferation of new registers creates new problems and needs, including the necessity of approving protocols that standardize the way these registers inscribe, categorize and tag the works entering their systems. Unfortunately, practically each Registry have, in these days, its own registration system, which create incompatibility and a lack of interoperability between them. Otherwise, Web 2.0 concepts introduce new problems and challenges that have to be considered, appearing semantic web principles and features as a useful tool on the development of new systems and technologies based on rights management information that permit the respectful distribution of creative work in the digital era.

Representatives of Spanish Government, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), European Commission, Universities, civil society and other agents involved in copyright will participate in this event.

In this sense, Safe Creative invites anyone interested in these matters to assist and participate at the Conference, contacting through conference@safecreative.org.

The Conference languages are Spanish and English.