EU Public Affairs Monitor - 15/12/08

UK plays term numbers game
"A 70-year copyright term is a possibility as UK offers alternative to EC’s 95 years
Europe’s delicately-balanced debate on copyright term is about to be blown out of the water, with the UK Government now poised to tell member states that it is prepared to see an extension to 70 years.

The UK, one of Europe’s biggest music producers, has steadfastly opposed the Charlie McCreevy-sponsored Directive to increase copyright term. While Germany, France and other states have broadly supported the Internal Markets Commissioner’s proposal to extend copyright term from 50 to 95 years, the UK has stuck to the findings of the 2006 Gowers Review, which did not recommend extension.

However, that position – and Gowers’ – was blown apart last Thursday when Culture Secretary Andy Burnham told a conference that he is now working with Department for Innovation Universities and Skills Secretary of state John Denham to “consider the arguments for an extension of copyright term for performers from the current 50 years. An extension to match more closely a performer’s expected lifetime, perhaps something like 70 years”. Senior executives now expect the Government to formally tell the European Council about this monumental U-turn early in the New Year. And that will undoubtedly radically shift the way the debate is progressing." [MusicWeek]

Copyright extension is out of tune with reality
"Politicians often do and say silly things when they come into contact with celebrities.
So it was last Thursday when a star-struck Andy Burnham, Britain's secretary of state for Culture, Media and Sport, showed up for a speech and photo-opportunity with the former lead singer of the Undertones, a punk-pop combo of the 1970s. In addition to the usual pleasantries about Britain's creative industries, Mr Burnham set out a novel argument about the law of copyright protecting musicians' work.

There was, he said, "a moral case" for performers - who often do their best recorded work in their 20s and 30s - to benefit from it throughout their lifetime. The government would therefore consider extending copyright for recordings to 70 years from the present 50." [FT]

Copyright law 'could be extended'
"Culture minister Andy Burnham has said the government has changed its mind on allowing performers to make money from their music for 70 years. Performers currently lose the copyright to their recordings after 50 years. "It's only right that someone who created or contributed to something of real value gets to benefit for the full course of their life," he said. Sir Cliff Richard and Roger Daltrey were among those who have campaigned for copyright to be extended." [BBC]

UK ignores logic, backs 20-year music copyright extension
"After a UK government-led commission said that the current 50-year term for musical copyrights was fine, and the government last year publicly agreed that there was no need to extend the term, culture minister Andy Burnham yesterday made the logical follow-up announcement that yes, the government would now push for a 20-year extension on copyright. Turns out, it's the moral thing to do." [ArsTechnica]