RightsTech: Europe will be a collaboration with Frankfurter Buchmesse in its German iteration April 9 and 10
‘On Our Doorstep in Frankfurt’
The Frankfurter Buchmesse and the RightsTech Project announced this week that they will co-produce the new RightsTech: Europe conference, set for April 9 and 10 in Frankfurt.
The program is to be modeled on the RightsTech Summit in New York City and is intended to bring together rights holders, tech developers, investors, and policymakers from many parts of the creative and media range of industries.
Topics are expected to include:
• Machine-to-machine rights management
• Automated licensing platforms
• Metadata, unique identifies and registries
• Multi-territorial licensing
• Copyright in the Digital Single Market
• Blockchain
• Investing in rights and royalties
• Art and artificial intelligence
• Truth and transparency in royalty reporting and payments
• The economics of digital scarcity
• Tracing authorship, authentication and provenance
• Open access
• Machine learning
Taking advantage of its location in Germany’s business capital, the conference program will emphasize European Union developments and their global implications.
Juergen Boos
In a prepared statement, Frankfurter Buchmesse director Juergen Boos is quoted, saying, “Rights and licensing are at the heart of what we do at the book fair, and so partnering on this project seems like a perfect fit for us.
“We’re at a pivotal time in the global conversation about how we can use technology and innovation to make rights deals in the publishing industry quicker and more efficient, and our colleagues at IPR License are already showing the way forward with the automation tools they’ve developed.
“So we’re delighted that this debate will be happening on our doorstep in Frankfurt.”
In his reference to IPR License, Boos refers to the fully transactional rights and licensing marketplace for publishing, a company in which the Frankfurter Buchmesse has a majority position, with Copyright Clearance Center and China South Publishing & Media Group each holding minority stakes.
Paul Sweeting
Speaking for RightsTech, its co-founder and the CEO of Concurrent Media Strategies, Paul Sweeting, is quoted, saying, “From the start, we’ve wanted to spark a global conversation around the rapidly evolving rights-tech ecosystem, and the need to bring the proper licensing and management of rights up to the same machine-enabled scale and speed as the rest of the media value chain.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Frankfurt Book Fair, which has been at the center of the global book trade and publishing rights business for more than five centuries.”
Ned Sherman
Commentary is also coming from Ned Sherman, chairman of Digital Media Wire, and, with Sweeting, co-founder of RightsTech, who says, “Europe is at the center of innovation in rights management and an important catalyst for technology solutions for rights holders.
“The partnership with Frankfurt Book Fair brings the discussion of the evolving rights-tech ecosystem to the European stage. We’re excited to have a first-class partner in the Frankfurt Book Fair to bring global leaders to Europe to discuss the challenges and opportunities ahead.”
RightsTech classifies itself as a “business and professional community of supporting creators, media rights owners, technology developers, investors, legal professionals, and entrepreneurs focused on technology innovation in media rights management and licensing, royalty collection and payments, and authentication and registration of copyrighted works.”
The Frankfurter Buchmesse produces events and conferences in many parts of the world annually, and it organizes German collective stands at some 20 international book fairs. As the importance and centricity of rights and licensing rise for the world publishing industry, Frankfurt’s position as the West’s largest and most influential trade show can be leveraged to bring the newest elements of such technology into place for the international publishing industry.
The RightsTech Project, meanwhile, is a joint venture of Concurrent Media Strategies and Digital Media Wire. As such, the program works no only in publishing but also in music, film, video, photography, visual arts, video games, and more.
More from Publishing Perspectives on Frankfurter Buchmesse is here, and on rights issues is here.