European Commission moves to extend copyright term
01 March 2008
The term of protection for sound recordings in the European Union will be extended from 50 to 95 years, under proposals announced by Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy on February 14
James Nurton, London
The term of protection for sound recordings in the European Union will be extended from 50 to 95 years, under proposals announced by Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy on February 14.
McCreevy said the Commission will propose a directive before this summer to extend the term in all 27 EU member states. The proposal will be discussed in the European Parliament and Council of Ministers, and could be adopted in 2009 or 2010. If adopted as proposed, it will bring the term of protection in the EU into line with that in the US. The term of protection for composers will not be changed.
Performers (such as Cliff Richard), whose recordings from the 1950s and 1960s are soon due to come out of copyright, have called for the term to be extended. McCreevy justified the plans by saying that they would benefit such performers, for whom copyright...
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