ERRA: Creating an environment for creativity and innovation to flourish

ERRA: Creating an environment for creativity and innovation to flourish

Caroline Morgan, IFRRO: Collective management gives educational institutions and businesses convenient and legal access to copyright content.

Sylvie Forbin, WIPO: A collective management organisation like ERRA is paramount to both facilitating access to content and to rewarding those who have created it.

Sharjah: The launch of the Emirates Reprographic Rights Management Association (ERRA) - a first-of-its-kind association in the region – marks a watershed moment in the UAE publishing industry as it strengthens the foundations of a healthy print and publishing market where both the creation and dissemination of content are encouraged.

With the launch of ERRA, the UAE is now home to the first specialist text and image reproduction rights organisation (RRO) in the Arab region and joins the fold of more than 80 countries around the world with similar collective management organisations in place. ERRA is an important step in ensuring that the copyrights of content creators including authors, visual artists and publishers in the Emirati book industry are safeguarded through appropriate laws and legislations.

The establishment of ERRA also aligns with the UAE’s ongoing efforts to develop its publishing sector and strengthens its role as a champion and ambassador for copyright and collective management in the region.

Benefits for authors, illustrators and