Musicians had reason to celebrate yesterday after the European Commission
proposed extending the copyright period for performers from the current 50 to 95
years.
According to the EU press release, Commissioner Charlie McCreevy announced his intention to propose to the College that the term of copyright protection for European performers be increased from 50 to 95 years.
Summarising the main thrust of the proposal, Commissioner McCreevy stated,
The British Government has so far been resistant to changes in the current legislation, despite calls from stars such as Cliff Richard, U2 and the Who singer Roger Daltrey.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 favourite song – we can usually name the performer.
The copyright for a song or a piece of music, and the money that earns, is split into two parts. Performance and sound recording rights usually go to the singer, band, musicians and technicians, while publishing rights – which cover the lyrics and sheet music – will either be owned by the writer or a music label and will last for the lifetime of the writer, plus 70 years.
Even though I'm an advocate for copyright protection, I think lifetime plus 70 years is too long. If they think that it's unfair for performers to only get 50 years, then they should reduce the copyright of life plus 70 years to 50 years also to make it even. Although I doubt that will ever happen in my life time.
