Metadata is essential in the copyright industry of the 21st century to keep the engine of copyright running smoothly and powerfully for the benefit of creators, users and the copyright industry as a whole. But metadata is difficult to acquire and even difficult to keep up to date, as content rights are mostly multi-layered, fragmented, international and moreover volatile.
Given these complexities, involving a copyright lawyer early in the process can help navigate ownership layers and ensure metadata practices align with legal standards.
BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT partner and lawyer Dr. Martin Schaefer deals with a solution approach for this challenge in his article “Why Metadata Matters for the Future of Copyright”, which appeared in the 08/2021 issue of the “European Intellectual Property Review” (E.I.P.R.). Together with co-author Prof. Dr. Norbert Gronau from the University of Potsdam, Dr. Schaefer develops the idea of a neutral tool for searching and improving metadata that could serve as a buffer to protect the interests of proprietary database owners and avoid the shortcomings of centralised databases.
In light of various EU efforts, the authors conclude in their paper that it is time to take the concept of a “metadata search and enhancement tool” to a new level. And this is not only for the music industry, as the entire copyright sector could benefit from such approach. Large international public organisations – such as those under the roof of the EU – would be predestined for implementation.
