EU Public Affairs Monitor - 28/11/08

Monopoly of collecting societies' activities: infringement proceedings against the Czech Republic and Hungary
"The European Commission has decided to send reasoned opinions to the Czech Republic and Hungary on the grounds of obstacles to the freedom of establishment and to the freedom to provide services as a result of the monopolies granted to national rights management companies.

Czech and Hungarian laws provide that a single collecting society may be authorised to operate in their respective countries for each type of right and work. This monopoly granted to national companies bans collecting societies set up in other Member States from undertaking any form of activity and denies them the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services. The Commission has doubts as to the justification of those national measures in the light of their negative effects on two of the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the EC Treaty." [Europa]

The latest information on infringement proceedings concerning all Member States is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/community_law/index_en.htm

EMI Music CEO Applauds Govt Action On ISPs
"EMI Music CEO Elio Leoni-Sceti has spoken of his support for the U.K. government's and others' attempts to get ISPs to tackle illegal file-sharing, while admitting the music industry failed to adapt to changes in consumer behavior. Leoni-Sceti appeared at U.K. media/telecoms regulator Ofcom's Next Generation Net Generation conference in London. Vivendi chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy was also among the business leaders at the conference.

The EMI Music CEO appeared on a panel, "Global Content Economy - Challenges for Business," alongside executives including Telefonica Europe CEO Ronan Dunne, Nikesh Arora, president EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) operations, Google, and Roma Khanna, president, global networks & digital initiatives at NBC Universal. Pledging to transform EMI into a "consumer-focused music company," Leoni-Sceti commented: "The new EMI wants to be the most consumer-led, innovative music company in the world - that means listening to our consumers and putting the consumer experience at the heart of our business strategy."A consultation process was recently concluded by the U.K. government, following this summer's brokering of a Memorandum of Understanding between the music industry and ISPs. Part of the agreement includes a pledge by ISPs to write letters to customers who are involved in illegal peer-to-peer activity." [BillBoard] [CMUDaily]

Artists send video message to PM over copyright term
"More from the campaign to persuade Gordon Brown to increase the recorded music copyright term now - and this time the protests have been presented in video form. As much much previously reported, record labels and recording artists have been lobbying the government regarding extending the recording copyright from 50 to 95 years for ages now; the former because the legendary recordings of the rock n roll era are about to come out of copyright; the latter because there is a whole generation of session musicians who will soon start to lose the royalty payments that stem from recordings they worked on in the sixties, which for some are a bulk of their earnings. " [CMUDaily]

EURO LICENSING: THE HARD ROAD AHEAD
"There is no 'us' and 'them' any longer. With nearly 50% of all music consumed by Europeans classified as international repertoire and the rest considered to be essential local music preserving the cultural identities of each European Union (EU) nation, the troubled state of licensing digital publishing rights is not, as some said a few years back, 'a European problem.' After intervention by the European Commission (EC), the current structures for licensing these rights are seen by some to be as volatile as the financial markets. How everyone responds to the situation will inevitably impact the future of recorded music, music publishing, digital and mobile music services and broadcasting -- and everyone else in the creator-to-consumer chain of distribution. Considering the importance of intellectual property as a significant contributor to worldwide economies, figuring out solutions during this economic crisis, in the midst of the physical-to-digital music transition, becomes even more essential.

Music Confidential reached out to senior executives and lawyers throughout Europe to shed some light, and perhaps a bit of insight, on problems and possible solutions following the EC's mandate to restructure rights and operating procedures among the network of collecting societies. Despite an extraordinary amount of angst and concern among the interested parties, there are opportunities and some optimism to report." [MusicConfidential]

Conference calls on WIPO to Boost Support for Collective Management of Copyright and Related Rights
"A conference on the future evolution of collective management of copyright and related rights in Europe has called on WIPO to step up efforts to help stakeholders address the emerging challenges facing collective management. Participants urged WIPO to strengthen the copyright infrastructure so as to support creative industries and promote social, economic and cultural development.

The Conference on Collective Management of Copyright and Related Rights in Europe, held in Brussels from November 24 to 25, 2008, was organized by WIPO in association with the European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers (GESAC) and in cooperation with the Association of European Performers’ Organisations (AEPO-ARTIS), and the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC)." [WIPO]

The European IP market needs a revolution
"The European R&D and patenting world treat intellectual property as a legal right and nothing else. Most companies and investors want that attitude to change. If it does, a number of exciting possibilities can begin to emerge.What Europe needs most is intermediaries from outside the law
A recent EPO survey revealed that 60% of European companies do not care if the inventions and technologies they find and use are patented or not (which surely helps explain the modest levels of patent registrations in many EU countries!). At the same time, however, countless European surveys have revealed that technological innovation is the priority for the EU's institutions, as well as national and regional governments, industrial associations and others; and that European companies are very keen to improve technological innovation (including R&D outsourcing) as key weapon in the global competition race.
These conflicting findings tell us a few key things about the type of IP market Europe should adopt, given that improving its existing one is an official target, as set out by EU leaders in the Lisbon Agreement."

The complete article (and the accompanying charts) in .pdf format is saved on the shared file (in the Monitoring section). A text version can be read on:
http://66.102.9.132/search?q=cache:3BkUjCSMfg8J:www.wipo.int/sme/en/best_practices/pdf/european_ip_market.pdf+WIPO+European+IP+Market+needs+a+revolution&hl=nl&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=be [WIPO]