Term Extension - the UK moves forward

Sir Cliff - timeless

Well, we blogged it was coming, and now the term of copyright protection for sound recordings in the UK runs for a marvellous 70 years, rather than the paltry 50 years that was previously the case. The move, which came into effect on November 1st and was dubbed "Cliff's Law" after the veteran hitmaker Sir Cliff Richard (who backed the campaign to extend the copyright period) has not been without its critics, many of who said the move would only benefit record labels: The European Directive (2011/77/EU) that implemented the change requested that each country introduce measures to ensure artists received some benefit from extra 20 years of copyright protection. The specifics of those benefits in the UK have been in development for most of the year, and the Intellectual Property Office has now announced the following initiatives

- A "session fund" paying many performers (such as session musicians) 20% of revenues from sales of their recordings.

- A "clean slate" provision, whereby a producer may not make deductions from payments to performers (such as advances of royalties) from publication of a recording.

- A "use it or lose it" clause - which allows performers and musicians to claim back their performance rights in sound recordings if they are not being commercially exploited.

What will be interesting will be the detail. Whilst the EU had said that the extended term would benefit record producers who would generate additional revenue from the sale of records in shops and on the internet allowing them to adapt to the rapidly changing business environment and help them maintain their investment levels in new talent, major record labels are extremely good at reducing artiste royalties to next to nothing, often by reducing revenues on which those royalties apply. To be frank, 20% of nothing is, well,  nothing. So the detail of how session players and featured artists get paid remains to be seen. If labels are required to "set up a fund into which they will have to pay 20% of their revenues earned during the extended period" then the key will be what those revenues actually are: 20% of gross revenues would be nice. 20% of net revenues will probably be next to nothing if labels are allowed to deduct costs and overheads.  Many heritage artistes already only receive a minute shares of revenues - which often look even more one-sided in the digital age where record label manufacturing, packaging and distribution costs are virtually zero:  prolonging that situation for 20 years won't help musicians and performers very much.

Confirming the new measures, IP Minister James Younger said "The new rules bring lasting benefits for our world class recording artists. These changes demonstrate the government's ongoing commitment to, and support for, our creative industries - who are worth billions to our economy. Artists who performed on sound recordings will benefit from this extension of copyright protection from 50 to 70 years. The changes should help ensure that musicians are rewarded for their creativity and hard work throughout their careers".

Meanwhile Jo Dipple of cross-industry trade body UK Music said: "UK Music welcomes today's announcement on extending the term of copyright for sound recordings. We are pleased that the government is implementing changes that acknowledge the importance of copyright to performers and record companies. This change will mean creators can rightfully continue to make a living from their intellectual property and works".

The extension will not be applied retrospectively, so tracks that have already fallen into the public domain, including the Beatles Love Me Do, remain outside of copyright protection.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/musicians-benefit-from-extended-copyright-term-for-sound-recordings

IPO consultation on Directive 2011/77

Enthusiastic musical response to IPO's consultation ...

As not all 1709 Blog readers and email subscribers also read the IPKat, we do not want that they remain unaware of the public consultation which the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has just launched. This is aimed at gathering the views of relevant stakeholders (including musicians, record producers, lyricists and composers and representative organisations and individuals) on the draft regulations that will transpose Directive 2011/77/EU into UK law.

This directive was adopted in September 2011 and extended the term of protection for performers and sound recordings from 50 to 70 years (Jeremy's post here). The underlying idea was that performers' protection was to be brought in line with that already afforded to authors.

At the time of its adoption,  EU Commissioner Michel Barnier felt confident that

... which needs to be in writing though

"[the] decision to increase the term of protection for musicians' copyright from 50 to 70 years w[ould] make a real difference for performers ... With increasing life expectancy, the previous 50-year protection term was clearly insufficient. Despite the fact that their music and songs are still popular, today many performers are left without income when they are older. The increase to a 70-year term means performers can still receive remuneration when their music is played once they have retired. [This] agreement gives performers the recognition and reward they justly deserve for their creative contributions to society and stimulates creation for future generations of music fans".

While requiring the UK to extend the length of copyright term in sound recordings and performers' rights in sound recordings, the directive includes specific provisions for performers, and also provides for the harmonisation of the copyright term for co-written musical compositions with words.

The closing date for IPO's public consultation is 4 March 2013. Any comments should be sent, preferably using the appropriate response form, before the closing date to:

Nick Ashworth

Intellectual Property Office

Concept House
Cardiff Road

Newport

South Wales

NP10 8QQ

United Kingdom

Email Term Directive Consultation team
Fax: +44 (0) 1633 817777