INFO2000 Programme - Multimedia intellectual property rights

The European Commission, DG XIII, has published a call for proposals for pilot or exploratory projects aimed at contributing to the enhancement of the current multimedia intellectual property rights trading environment in the Union. The call, launched within the framework of ...

The European Commission, DG XIII, has published a call for proposals for pilot or exploratory projects aimed at contributing to the enhancement of the current multimedia intellectual property rights trading environment in the Union.

The call, launched within the framework of the Community's INFO2000 programme, is intended to stimulate the development and use of multimedia information content by increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of multimedia rights clearance processes between rightholders and multimedia product developers.

For the purposes of the call, multimedia rights clearance is defined as the process whereby multimedia producers search for relevant components, assess the legal status of these components and seek to obtain from the rightholders (or their representatives) the required rights for the intended reuse of components in a multimedia product.

Multimedia Rights Clearance Systems (MMRCS) are likely to provide the following functionality:

- Digital storage of components and component descriptions;
- Identification and searchability of components;
- Previewing of components;
- Provision of reliable legal status and licensing information;
- Support for various contractual schemes;
- Secure delivery of components;
- Support for multiple payment and security mechanisms;
- Integration with asset management, production and exploitation environments.

Proposals may address one or more of the following areas: text (books, magazines, newspapers, manuscripts, etc.), still images (photos, graphics, paintings, maps, architecture, sculptures, etc.), moving images (video, animation, special effects, pantomime, choreography, motion picture, etc.), and audio (music, sound effects, sound recordings, MIDI, narration, voice-overs in a motion picture, etc.).

Proposals contributing to the integration and inter-operation of distributed specialized clearance services at European level and proposals favouring the reuse of public sector controlled components at the European level will be particularly welcomed. Both sector integration approaches (e.g. integration of text-based component collections across Europe) and cross-sector integration approaches (e.g. integration of text, image, sound component collections across different Member States) may be proposed.

Proposals should be supported by the relevant European federations or associations, show substantial user involvement and indicate their potential to contribute to the realization of one or more of the Information Society policy objectives in terms of job creation, lifelong learning, efficient, transparent and responsive government, democracy, social cohesion, regional cohesion, and cultural and linguistic diversity. Proposals contributing to the solution of specific problems of SMEs will be particularly welcomed.

Projects may cover feasibility studies, prototype development, standards development, pilot system development and evaluation, awareness actions and other actions or a combination of these elements, depending on specific sector requirements and state of development.

The principal organizations considered to be able to participate are the various rightholders in the rights transmission chain, both from the public and private sectors.

Community financial support is based on actual costs incurred, normally labour costs and travel costs over a two-year work period. The support will be calculated at up to 50% of those costs, subject to a ceiling of ECU 250,000 per project. The Community financial contribution under the present programme may not be cumulated with a payment from any other European Community programme or source for the same project. An indicative budget for the support of actions from this call is ECU 2.2 million.

This call for proposals is open to entities, whether private or public, within the European Economic Area (EEA). All projects must be transnational in scope and include cooperation between independent partners across national borders.
Further information on this call and the conditions for submitting proposals may be obtained from:

European Commission
DG XIII - Telecommunications, information market and exploitation of research
INFO2000 Central Office
DG XIII-E
EUFO 1179
L-2920 Luxembourg
Fax [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

Supporting documentation may also be obtained by access to the I'M Europe WWW server at:

http://www2.echo.lu/info2000/infohome.html

Also available on this server will be a partner search facility where interested organizations can describe potential projects or make public their readiness to collaborate in such projects. Information about EU RTD projects addressing electronic copyright management systems will also be accessible.

All proposals responding to this call should be sent, by registered post or hand delivery, either to the above-mentioned address or to one of the Commission's offices within the Community.