The change will bring the European Union rules on copyright term for sound recordings into line with those in the US.
The Commission will propose a directive before this summer to extend the term in all 27 EU member states. This will then be discussed in the European Parliament and Council of Ministers, and could be adopted in 2009 or 2010.
If it is implemented in the form proposed by the Commission, the move will mean that performers who recorded music in the 1950s and 1960s, such as Cliff Richard, will immediately benefit from an extended period of receiving royalties, something for which many have campaigned.
The term of protection for composers will not be changed.
Internal market commissioner Charlie McCreevy described performers’ copyright protection as a "moral right" and said: "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 covering his lifetime."
He added that the legislative change would benefit session musicians as well as featured artists.
Dominic McGonigal, director of government relations for PPL and VPL, which collect and distribute performance royalties in the UK, described the announcement as "superb". "This is very good news for musicians and for the creative economy in Europe," he told Managing IP.
McCreevy said that the proposal will require record companies to set up a fund reserving at least 20% of the royalties received during the extended term for session musicians.
Meanwhile, for featured artists original advances from record companies may not be set off against royalties in the extended term.
Under conventional recording contracts artists receive an advance, which is repaid from their royalties. This means thatw they only benefit from royalties after the advance has been paid back.
The Commission’s proposal would mean that advances would effectively be written off after 50 years. McGonigal said this is a "smart move" by the Commission although he added that, given the economics of the industry, it was "less real than theoretical".
McCreevy denied that the proposal would lead to price rises for consumers: "Empirical studies on the price effects of copyright protection show that the price of sound recordings that are out of copyright is not necessarily lower than that of sound recordings in copyright."
Previous studies of the IP system in Europe, including the Gowers Review in the UK, have rejected calls to extend the term of copyright protection for sound recordings in the EU.
However, McGonigal pointed out that the international trend is to move towards the US standard. Some countries have agreed to change copyright term as part of free-trade agreements signed with the US, while others – such as Japan and Australia – have either extended the term or are consulting on doing so.
