The Stage

EU plans to extend musicians’ copyright protection

Published Thursday 17 July 2008 at 17:05 by Michael Quinn

A resolution to the long-running argument over copyright protection for performers has moved one step closer with the formal publication of plans by the European Union to extend copyright ownership on recordings to a minimum of 95 years.

The proposals, drawn up by the EU’s Internal Market and Services Commissioner, Charlie McCreevy, and unveiled in draft form in February, would virtually double the length of copyright entitlement for musicians from the present 50 year limit.

“A 95-year term would bridge the income gap that performers face when they turn 70, just as their early performances, recorded in their twenties, would lose protection,” said the commissioner.

A high-profile campaign in support of copyright extension had been led in the UK by pop luminaries such as Roger Daltrey, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Cliff Richard, whose first chart successes are due to come out of copyright protection and enter the public domain on January 1, 2009.

Musicians’ Union general secretary John Smith said the news was “a major step forwards that will be most welcomed by all recording musicians” and “at last acknowledged that current law short-changes musicians”.

However, Smith added that the proposals still fall short of a full and fair settlement for artists. “The limited application of the extension of the term of protection to rights in a phonogram is disappointing. We firmly believe that there should be no distinction between audio and audio-visual rights. We also believe that the ‘use it or lose it’ provision, the wiping of the recoupment slate and the 20% fund for session musicians should be permanent and not just transitional measures.”

Feargal Sharkey, the former Undertones frontman and now chief executive of the British Music Rights coalition, said the new proposals would benefit “the invisible members of our industry - the musicians, engineers and session players - whose names are hidden away in the liner notes and credits” but urged that the move should be seen as “only a first step”.

McCreevy’s proposals will have to be ratified by EU members and the European Parliament before they become law, and may face stiff opposition even though they fall far short of current legislation for composers and authors, whose copyright entitlement extends for 70 years after their deaths.

Following the publication of the controversial Gowers Review of Intellectual Property in 2006, the UK government said it was “unconvinced” about the economic benefit of extending copyright on recordings and was sceptical about how many and by how much musicians would be affected.

“We would need to be convinced of real benefits before supporting the extension of any intellectual property right in this area, particularly that it is truly the performers who will benefit rather than the record labels,” said a spokesman.

McCreevy’s own calculations suggest that an “average” artist stands to receive only as much as £1,500 and as little as £120 per year should the new proposals become law.