Managing Intellectual Property

Copyright boost in Europe

01 September 2008

Ninety-five years is enough time to play the same four-minute piece of music more than 12.5 million times

Ninety-five years is enough time to play the same four-minute piece of music more than 12.5 million times. And that is the length of protection that performers will receive under the European Commission's latest proposals to enhance copyright protection.

The plan, revealed on July 17, to extend the term of protection from 50 years, and bring it into line with the term available for authors, will have to be approved by EU member states and the European Parliament. But it has already been welcomed by the music industry and performers.

The Commission's proposal follows serious lobbying and discussion in the EU over the appropriate length of protection for performers, with a number of studies expressing scepticism about the economic benefits of extending the term. But it fits in with the Commission's emphasis on strong copyright protection, which was expressed in a green paper adopted in July, called Copyright in...



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