Copyright, and the Regulation of Orphan Works: A comparative review of seven jurisdictions and a rights clearance simulation
‘Orphan works’ are works in which copyright still subsists, but where the rightholder, whether it be the creator of the work or successor in title, cannot be located.
This report was commissioned to assist the UK government in evaluating policy options in the implementation of the Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property & Growth (2011) to enable and price the use of orphan works.
The research proceeded in two stages. Study I undertook a comparative international review of actual or proposed orphan works legislation, and identified key characteristics of orphan works licensing schemes. Study II investigated the potential effects of such schemes by conducting a simulated rights clearance exercise for six scenarios (establishing licence terms and fees for specific commercial and non-commercial uses), and analysing the resulting dataset for effects of the characteristics identified in Study I.
Marcella Favale et al., “Copyright, and the Regulation of Orphan Works: A comparative review of seven jurisdictions and a rights clearance simulation,” Copyright Cortex, accessed October 18, 2026, https://copyright-cortex.org/policy-evidence/copyright-the-regulation-of-orphan-works-a-comparative-review-of-seven-jurisdictions-a-rights-clearance-simulation.