Chorus of complaints greets extension of music copyright (23/4/09)
April 23, 2009 at 5:25 pm Leave a comment
There’s been mixed reactions this week to a new law passed by the European Parliament extending the term of copyright protection for music recordings from fifty to seventy years. Under the legislation approved by MEPs in Strasbourg, performers will continue to receive royalties for seventy years from the first publication or performance of their song. The regulation includes a ‘use it or lose it’ clause, that would pass copyright back to the musicians if music labels do not publish their work.
Irish MEP Brian Crowley, who shepherded the report through the European Parliament, insists the move will help artists in Europe and ensure legal certainty for both musicians and producers. ‘Income generated by intellectual property rights represents a vital source of income for performers,’ said the Fianna Fáil MEP.
However critics of the measure claim that copyright extension does not benefit artists who make miniscule amounts on royalties, but rather major labels who can profit from the hits of their back catalogue which are beginning to fall out of copyright. Sinn Féin MEP Mary Lou McDonald, who wants the proposal binned, says the planned changes ‘will only reward already successful artists and their record companies at the expense of young and struggling artists’.
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