Green party plan to limit copyright attacked by writers and artists

The Green party may be forced to backtrack on its proposals to limit UK copyright terms to 14 years after a howl of protest from prominent writers and artists including Linda Grant, Al Murray and Philip Pullman.

The Greens’ manifesto said the party aims to “make copyright shorter in length, fair and flexible” with the party’s policy website saying it would “introduce generally shorter copyright terms, with a usual maximum of 14 years”. Representatives of the party said on Thursday that length could be revised after a consultation.

Kate Pool, deputy chief executive of the Society of Authors, said it would be an “appalling injustice” and that artists and writers would be first to lose out under the proposal, with more money being made by manufacturers or distributors.

“It could lead to all sorts of unfairness, and I can’t see how it’s in any way ‘green’,” Pool said. “Writers are human beings, and they deserve to be able to earn a living. After 14 years, the only person making money would be those producing the physical copy of the work, not the person who created it.”

A Green party spokesman told the Guardian the 14-year rule was part of a “long-term vision, we have no plans to implement this in the near future” but added that the 14 years would ideally begin at the date of publication. Current UK law means copyright typically expires 70 years from the author’s death.

Grant, a former Orange Prize for Fiction winner, drew attention to the clause on her Twitter page on Thursday.

Grant, author of When I Lived in Modern Times, said she had decided to bring greater attention to the clause after seeing it posted on a friend’s Facebook page, and seeing the Greens defend the policy because of their proposal of a citizen’s income of £72 a week.

“Let’s go back to a time when authors were gentleman amateurs with private incomes,” she tweeted.

Pullman, author of the bestselling fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials, called out the Greens’ policy in strong terms.

Stella Duffy, a novelist and creator of the Fun Palaces festivals, told the Guardian that the protection of copyright gave her a pension. “I’ve had two of my novels recently optioned by HBO, and one of them would be just about coming up to the end of copyright term under the 14-year rule,” she said.

“That would mean the big corporation could take my work without paying me a penny.”

She added: “People think that ending copyright would benefit artists but it would most widely benefit the corporations and distributors. They don’t bat an eyelid when they don’t pay authors for a novel, but people will still pay for an iPad or a Kindle to read the work for free.”

The Green party said there was a need for systems that would “reward creators but that are consistent with digital technologies” and that changes to copyright would be coupled with £500m more in funding for the arts, as well as a citizen’s income that would “allow many more people to participate in cultural creation”.

“We would consult with copyright holders and the general public to establish an appropriate length, but believe copyright terms should be shorter than they are at present in order to reduce restrictions on our shared cultural heritage,” a Green party spokesman said.