BRUSSELS - The European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Charlie McCreevy, announced his intention to bring forward a proposal to extend the term of protection for sound recordings from 50 to 95 years. This proposal should be ready for adoption by the European Commission before the summer break of 2008, a press release by the European Union (EU) stated.
Summarizing the main thrust of the proposal, McCreevy stated, “I strongly believe that copyright protection for Europe's performers represents a moral right to control the use of their work and earn a living from their performances. I have not seen 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 most of us have no idea who wrote our favorite song - we can usually name the performer.”
“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,” he added.
“I am determined to ensure that this extension will benefit all artists - whether featured artists or session musicians. For session musicians, the record companies will set up a fund - a substantial fund reserving at least 20% of the income during the extended term to them. For featured artists, original advances may no longer be set off against royalties in the extended term. That means the artist would get all the royalties during the extended term,” the Commissioner pointed out.
McCreevy also proposes a 'use it or lose it' provision, which means that, in case a record company is unwilling to re-release a performance during the extended term, the performer can move to another label.