The Stage

European Commission backs copyright extension for musicians

Published Friday 15 February 2008 at 12:40 by Alistair Smith

UK music performers have been given a boost in their bid to have the copyright period on their work extended beyond 50 years.

The European Commission has added its support to stars such as Cliff Richard who have been campaigning for the time scale to be changed to 95 years.

Speaking yesterday, the European commissioner for internal market and services Charlie McCreevey said that he intended to bring forward a proposal to the European Union to enact the changes.

He explained: “I have not seen or heard a convincing reason why a composer of music should benefit from a term of copyright which extends to the composer’s life and 70 years beyond, while the performer should only enjoy 50 years - often not even covering his lifetime. It is the performer who gives life to the composition and while many of us have no idea who wrote our favourite song, we can usually name the performer. So I am proposing that performing artists will no longer be the ‘poor cousins’ of the music business.

“If nothing is done, thousands of European performers who recorded in the late fifties and sixties will lose all of their airplay royalties over the next ten years. I am not only talking about featured artists like Cliff Richard or Charles Aznavour. I am talking about the thousands of anonymous session musicians who contributed to sound recordings in the late fifties and sixties. They will no longer get airplay royalties from their recordings. But these royalties are often their sole pension.”

The commissioner also suggested that a special fund for session musicians be set up, representing at least 20% of the income derived during the new extended term.

The move has been welcomed by the Musicians’ Union, whose general secretary John Smith said he was “delighted” with McCreevey’s proposal.

He added: “This is great news for thousands of musicians and we are especially delighted that the Commission has acted to benefit session musicians in particular through the creation of a bespoke fund. While clearly all recording artists will stand to gain from increasing the term of copyright protection for performers, there can be no doubt that the countless number of session musicians who have contributed so significantly to the musical heritage of Europe will greet this recognition of the value of their work with particular delight and relief.”