Performers likely to get as little as 50¢ a year from increased term of copyright
Last month the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) asked for comments on the European Commission’s proposal to almost double the term of copyright protection on sound recordings. The Commission’s proposal [pdf] is flimsy, misleading, and peppered with contradictions. Our submission [pdf] asks the UKIPO to reject it in the strongest terms.
Our submission shows that for the vast majority of performers the projected extra sales income resulting from term extension is likely to be meagre: from as little as 50¢ each year in the first ten years, to as “much” as €26.79 each year. That’s because most of the gains (89.5%) will go to the top 20% of recording artists. Meanwhile the major labels will be dividing up millions in extra handouts every year.
What’s more, performing artists will make no extra revenue from radio airplay and other income streams arising from so-called “secondary remuneration rights”, and may even make less. The Commission assumes that fees paid by users of recordings, e.g. broadcasters, will remain constant. That means the amount of earnings available to performers will not be any bigger - it will just be sliced more thinly and distributed longer to more rightsholders. Performers will not earn any more over their life time, and are likely to earn less, as money will be transferred from the living to the estates of the dead.
The proposal is set to cost hundreds of millions to consumers, with repercussions to the public interest, follow-on innovators and cultural diversity. It serves as a windfall for an industry the Commission would have us believe is immune from simple economic logic. No wonder Europe’s leading copyright thinker - and adviser to the European Commission - has accused the Commission of wilfully misleading the European Parliament, and the citizens of the European Union.
Thanks to everyone who helped us respond - you can download our final submission here. Thanks to yonmacklein for the image.
September 7th, 2008 at 10:53 am
[...] that talk about copyright extensions being ‘for the artists’? The average performer is likely to get 50 cents (euro) per year out of [...]
September 9th, 2008 at 4:18 am
[...] Open Rights Group [...]
September 9th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
[...] Open Rights Group hat eine Gegenrechnung aufgestellt, was die Einnahmenseite der Musiker angeht, um zu untermauern, dass eine Verlängerung des [...]
September 9th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
[...] este dinero extra. Pero la realidad es que hay estudios que indican que esto no es así, y así el Open Rights Group ha sacado a la luz pública un estudio que indica que esto no va a ser así y que además afirma [...]
September 9th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
[...] este dinero extra. Pero la realidad es que hay estudios que indican que esto no es así, y así el Open Rights Group ha sacado a la luz pública un estudio que indica que esto no va a ser así y que además afirma [...]
September 9th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
[...] este dinero extra. Pero la realidad es que hay estudios que indican que esto no es así, y así el Open Rights Group ha sacado a la luz pública un estudio que indica que esto no va a ser así y que además afirma [...]
September 10th, 2008 at 12:06 am
[...] e das grandes editoras que Bruxelas pretende quase que duplicar o prazo dos direitos de autor? O Open Rights Group - uma organização não governamental britânica dedicada à defesa das liberdades civis na [...]
September 16th, 2008 at 4:54 am
[...] the recent news on Openright and this leaves quite a bit frustrated, infuriated and angry. While my understanding may be flawed [...]
October 10th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
[...] This proposal is problematic to say the least. From research point of view, and based on the US experience, the main result will be a serious limitation of availability of recorded music - musicians would not benefit from this. [...]
October 10th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
[...] This proposal is problematic to say the least. From research point of view, and based on the US experience, the main result will be a serious limitation of availability of recorded music - musicians would not benefit from this. [...]
November 27th, 2008 at 9:07 am
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