The Digital Economy Bill is based on recommendations made by the Intellectual Property Office in November. The Bill was unveiled by the Queen last month and introduced to the House of Lords on 19 November. It seeks to amend the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 by simplifying access to copyright material, introducing extended collective licensing, and addressing the orphan work issue by allowing the use and commercialisation of works for which rights holders can't be traced.

Yesterday, the Bill went through its second reading in the House of Lords, with a four-hour debate involving more than 20 members of the upper chamber. However, only two of them moved to protect photographers' rights, as most of the debate revolved around the film and music industry and the government's plans to cut off internet access for recurring infringers.

The strongest argument came from Viscount Bridgeman, who is at the head of a family-owned photographic archive and a member of the British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies, which is in turn a member of the Creators' Rights Alliance.

Addressing the House of Lords, Viscount Bridgeman explained that there were certain aspects of the Bill that are of concern to the Alliance and others, among them the rights for photographers to assert paternity rights.

'The first is the subject of the use of works whose creators cannot be identified-orphan works. It is a logical and legal absurdity to make such provision while there are significant groups of authors who do not have the right to be identified as authors of their work under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,' he says. 'The right is given by Section 77 but, for many, is taken away by Section 79. The groups include news reporters and photographers, and all authors and performers who produce work under contracts of employment.'

Viscount Bridgeman believes that authors and performers should have an unequivocal and universal right to be associated with their work and to defend its integrity.

He continues: 'We believe that legislation should enshrine the principle that all uses of a work permitted under extended collective licensing must be accompanied by full credits for the author and other metadata which not only detail the source of the work but also give information such as agency contact details, thus ensuring that the work is traceable and attributed.'

He adds: 'The massive fall in licensing fees following the advent of online publishing has meant that the paternity right is ever more essential to photographers and other creators being able to trace and gain recompense for uses of their works. The right to a credit must be safeguarded, together with a suitably high level of compensation by transgressors. It is a further reason why metadata-the textual accompaniment to an image or other work-must remain linked by law. It will simply be a matter of survival for many photographers.'

While, says Viscount Bridgeman, there is a theoretical prohibition under the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 on removing such information, the Consumer Rights Alliance believes that it is defective. 'It provides that a creator or other rights holder has the same rights as he has in respect of an infringement of copyright, which is to sue for the value of the infringement. What is that worth?'

He adds: 'There is a particularly relevant point here. As is well known, litigation on infringement of copyright is cumbersome and expensive in relation to likely returns and is rarely used.'

Baroness Buscombe has also moved to protect photographers' rights by addressing the problems posed by orphan works. 'The Bill focuses on a number of important areas which I hope will be carefully scrutinised through its passage,' she says. 'For example, this may sound like one small area and it is one that is often overlooked, but I focused on it back in 2005. It concerns the issue of orphan works. I said then: "Without adequate protection the photographic image-tomorrow's cultural heritage-and those who create it will cease to have true value, and without adequate protection a profession dies".'

She continues: 'Take photographers who are concerned that, in a digital age, information about copyright and the creator supplied with the digital image is stripped away, often automatically, so that in a matter of moments the world is awash with so-called orphan images. Almost five years on, in a world where digital is now the universal norm, this is surely an even more pressing issue that must be carefully thought through by your Lordships.'

None of Baroness Buscombe's and Viscount Bridgeman's concerns were addressed by Lord Davies of Oldham, who represented the government during the debate, in his conclusions. However, he said, 'they will have to be addressed in detail in Committee.'

The Bill has now been committed to a 'Committee of the Whole House', which will convene for the first time on 06 January 2010.

BJP will continue to monitor the debate in the House of Lords.