Last Wednesday Directors UK went to the House of Commons to lobby MPs and Lords on the issues that we believe will affect directors and writers after Brexit.
Together with ALCS (the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society) WGGB (The Writers Guild of Great Britain) and the Society of Authors, we held a drop-in session at lunchtime and invited members from both houses to join us to find out more about what they can do to support the future of UK creators.
Directors UK CEO Andrew Chowns, Head of Communications and Public Affairs Victoria Morris and Head of Campaigns Anna Wharton attended on behalf of Directors UK armed with information setting out our five key areas of concern:
- The implementation of the EU Copyright Directive in the UK
- Reciprocal agreements on UK creators’ economic rights with the EU
- International mobility for creators and workers in the creative industries
- Access to funding for cultural projects
- Health and safety issues for workers in the creative industries
We pressed home that it is vital that government engage with the voice and views of the actual individuals working in the creative sector, not just the larger creative businesses, as it is the individual creators’ ideas that drive the industry — which currently contributes £92billion to the UK economy.
You can read our view on what Brexit could mean for directors in more detail here. Please note that though this was written before the recent publication of the government’s draft withdrawal agreement, our principal concerns are still largely unchanged. You can also read our briefing document on the issues affecting individual creators here.
Great to see so many turning up to discuss authors issues and Brexit @HouseofCommons pic.twitter.com/qREmGXc9hJ
— ALCS (@ALCS_UK) November 14, 2018
The event was hugely successful, and we were able to meet and talk to 30 MPs and Lords including Tracy Brabin, Kevin Brennan, Lord Dubs, Lord Clement-Jones, Baroness Bonham-Carter, Lord Foster, John Whittingdale, and Paul Farrelly among others.
Many of those we met were supportive and offered to help. We have since written a joint letter to those who did attend with a number of Parliamentary Questions, which they have agreed to put forward on our behalf to the Secretary of State for DCMS and BEIS.
It was great to be able to really engage with the government on the issues that we believe will significantly affect authors after Brexit. We will continue to push for directors’ interests on this issue and others, as we face this ongoing period of political uncertainty.
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