AOI and SoA table evidence on future of UK-EU services

The AOI has joined with the Society of Authors to submit written evidence to the House of Lords’ EU Sub-Committee inquiry into the future of UK-EU trade in services. You can read the submission here.

The move follows a submission from the British Copyright Council, of which the AOI and SoA are active members, calling for clarity on the future of Copyright exhaustion and enforcement regimes following conclusion of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement in December.

The Lords’ inquiry is wide-ranging and will examine the impact of the TCA on the UK’s services sector – from financial services and professional services to research, education and digital services. The inquiry will also focus separately on the future of the creative industries and how they are affected by new working arrangements between the UK and the EU on issues as diverse as customs and tax to intellectual property and data protection standards.

The AOI-SoA evidence calls on the Government to Level Up intellectual property standards to meet or beat the creators’ rights set out in Chapter 3 of the EU Copyright Directive, which the Government supported and shaped when an EU member.

The submission also calls on parliamentarians to lobby ministers to ensure that the burden of red tape – from VAT to visas – is lifted from self-employed creators, which make up nearly half (47%) of all those employed in the creative industries.

Commenting on the report, AOI Chief Executive Ren Renwick said:

“Illustrators and Agents face considerable barriers to trade as things stand. From tax and agenting arrangements to the myriad visa and work-permit rules, the Government should be aspiring to make it easier for EU companies to do business with UK creators and make the UK the best country in the world in which to live and work.”

SoA Chief Executive Nicola Solomon added:

“This is a detailed assessment of the uncertainties flowing from the Trade and Co-operation Agreement and what the Government needs to do to ensure that the UK can be the best place in the world to be a creator.

“Whilst the current uncertainties are unwelcome, there is still time for the Government to fix them and ensure that the UK does not fall behind other countries in protecting creators’ rights and safeguarding copyright standards.”

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