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Rightscom Position Statement

Chris Barlas
Rightscom Ltd
10 Leake Street
London SE1 7NN
Tel : 020 7620 4437
Mobile : 07968 162805
Fax : 020 7620 0760
www.rightscom.com

Rightscom was established at the beginning 2000, to provide consultancy in the area of the management of intellectual property rights in the networked environment. The company has a team of experts in the field of intellectual property, covering such diverse areas as business modelling, identification, metadata, licensing and standards creation. Its consultants work across all media types, giving them a particular insight into the convergence issues connected with copyright.

Rightscom works with its clients, which include both rights holders and IT companies, to assist them in understanding the complex commercial, technical and legal issues involved in intellectual property. As part of its core activities, the company has a ongoing brief to pursue standards activities. At present, Rightscom staff are engaged in a number of standards activities, including MPEG, SDMI and OEB, on behalf of clients. Rightscom views standards as an essential part of the process of digital rights management, particularly in terms of interoperability . However, the company also recognises that the commercial interests of companies have to be taken into consideration in any standardisation process.

Rightscom welcomes the W3C initiative, but would like to be extremely certain that any engagement by W3C in the digital rights management environment does not confuse or impede any of the other efforts currently under way. In particular, the company is concerned that a comparatively late entrance by W3C into this complex environment could lead to a proliferation of approaches just when many previously disparate approaches are beginning to coalesce within the context of MPEG.

Therefore, Rightscom would like to assist the participants at the workshop by offering its knowledge of the digital rights management environment. In particular, it would welcome the opportunity to help the participants to become well acquainted with all the other activities, such as the work of MPEG 4, 7 & 21, the OEBF, the International DOI Foundation, OPIMA, together with the various standards initiatives taking place under the aegis of the International Standards Organisation.

To promote this understanding, Rightscom will bring to the workshop its knowledge of other initiatives and standards processes that impinge on the management of intellectual property rights in the networked environment.

Rightscom personnel have also participated in the Imprimatur and Indecs Projects, both sponsored and funded by the European Commission. Many of the processes elaborated in these two initiatives provide insight into the issues facing rights holders, intermediaries and end-users of intellectual property in the networked environment.