UK creators call for a private copying scheme to help support the British culture economy

By Emmanuel Legrand

A coalition of British creators and performers such as Peter Blake and Olivia Colman have endorsed the creation of the Smart Fund, which could generate up to £300 million per year for the creative industries, through a levy on recording devices.

  In an open letter, over 100 cultural figures said the Fund would support the UK’s "cultural and economic renewal" and "boost a wider UK economic recovery, by placing a small levy on the sale of devices that enable people to store and download creative content, such as mobiles and laptops and providing a direct way for tech companies to invest in culture."

  They added: "The arts provide sustenance to the engine room of cultural regeneration, recovery and renewal for the whole country. The Smart Fund is the route to supporting this."

An effective way to compensate creators

  The scheme, akin to the private copying system in place in many countries, especially in continental Europe, would involve collecting a levy on the sale of mobiles, laptops, PCs and devices, equivalent to up to 1-3% of the sales value of the device. The proceeds of the levy would be paid into a central fund that would in turn be distributed to creators and performers.

  "The Smart Fund is a no brainer," said artist Yinka Shonibare, an ambassador for the Smart Fund, and a member of visual arts society DACS, the UK's Designers’ and Artists’ Copyright Society. "Currently there isn’t any effective way for creators to be recompensed when their work is downloaded and stored by audiences. This remains one of the largest untapped opportunities for creators and performers. The Smart Fund provides a way to invest in creative talent of all ages and backgrounds and their communities."

  DACS is among the organisations that have endorsed the proposal. DACS says schemes like the Smart Fund "exist and operate successfully" in 44 countries worldwide, paying out over £930 million to creators and performers globally in 2018 alone.

A way to invest in UK's creative economy

  "Working with the tech industry and innovators in this sector, we want to support creators and performers, to rebuild and enable the UK’s world leading cultural heritage, tourism, and creative industries and contribute to its soft power and international standing," commented Gilane Tawadros, Chief Executive of DACS. "The arts provide sustenance to the engine room of cultural regeneration, recovery and renewal for the whole country."

  Visual artist Margaret Heffernan, Chair of DACS, wrote an op-ed in the Financial Times in which she explained that Germany, France, Belgium and Italy have some of the most established systems, and all European countries – bar Monaco – have such a mechanism, and so do Israel, Japan, Malawi, Morocco and Tunisia.

  "But that is not the case in the UK," she wrote. "No such mechanism exists here. It may change. Smart funds are being billed as a collaboration between creators and performers, tech companies and governments as a direct way to invest in the UK’s economic, social and cultural wealth."

Opportunity to work with tech companies

  She added that the fund would invest taxable income "in artists of all ages and backgrounds as a means of contributing to Britain’s economic and cultural upheaval," and that much of the money raised would be "paid directly to the artist as royalties through an existing collection body, such as which I chair."

  In addition, a percentage will support cultural projects across the country, encourage young and emerging artists, and support level-up agendas. "All of these are managed and determined in collaboration with existing governments, technology companies, and collection bodies to distribute copyright revenues," wrote Heffernan. 

  For her, the creation of the Smart Fund would be "an opportunity for tech companies to work with governments and the creative industries in renewing UK cultural life," and will provide "a transparent, collaborative and sustainable way for governments, technology and the creative community to work together to inspire and enhance the expressive work of artists who make the UK world-famous."