Copyright Term Extension
The EU Council has voted in favour of extending music copyright from fifty to seventy years. This news has been gladly received by record labels and musicians alike. Brussels has not specified an implementation date but has suggested that the new provisions should be incorporated into member states legislation in the next two years. This will undoubtedly mean artists such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones will be urging the government to act fast to incorporate the Directive into UK law, before their early hits become part of the public domain.
The contention in this matter has always been that the evidence suggests it would be mainly the record companies and already wealthy artists who would benefit from a change in legislation. Of course it would help lesser known musicians and session musicians but to a much lesser extent. Record companies claim that this extension in copyright term will allow them to invest more in new musical talent and offset money that has been spent on less successful acts.
Artists such as Cliff Richards and Adam Faith have already started to lose ownership of their early work. The implementation of this directive will not retrieve them the copyright to music already lost to the public domain, only secure music from the date of implementation. Once the law has been changed musicians will need to have their record labels make their music available in different formats to retain the rights.
This post was written by Pete Shorrock.
Copyright 2011 Help for Bands. All rights reserved.