Make sure MEPs hear your views on copyright term extension - get in touch today

Gavin, 07 October 2008

Contact your MEPs now. The European Parliament has begun preparing its opinion on the European Commission's flawed proposal to extend the term of copyright protection for sound recordings. MEPs have been appointed to act as rapporteurs, who will guide the committees that will recommend how Parliament should vote. Your MEPs need to know that their voters are concerned and paying attention - get in touch with them to let them know your concerns. To help you do this we've prepared a guide to lobbying your MEPs (click to download) and a briefing pack (click to download).

Lobbyists for term extension are making the case to MEPs inside the European Parliament right now. But your voice is stronger than any lobbyist. We can't overstate it: the most important thing you can do to stop term extension is to let your MEPs know your concerns so they an see and hear your side. Be aware also that MEPs can be deluged with information on many topics and appreciate being treated as individuals. If you want to travel to Brussels to meet your MEPs and need help, Turn on JavaScript!. If you have a story or an interest that we should know about, Turn on JavaScript!. Now is the time to speak, so use your voice wisely!

We'll keep you updated of major developments, but you can track the proposal on the Parliament website and the details of relevant committees and MEP members are also available. Currently Legal Affairs (JURI) are leading. Three other committees - Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO); Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE); and Culture and Education (CULT), will also help.

In the meantime the Directive is also being discussed by representatives of Member States in the Council of Ministers. And criticism of the Commission's proposal is emerging all over Europe.

The world leading Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property Law in Munich, has released a statement concluding that prolonging the term of protection "cannot be justified from any point of view."

Professor Bernt Hugenholtz, Director of the Institute for Information Law (IViR) in Amsterdam, and one of the Commission's own advisers, has accused Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso of intentionally misleading policy-makers with the proposal.

Pekka Gronow, sound archivist, author of "An International History of the Recording Industry", and adjunct professor of ethnomusicology at the University of Helsinki, has written and concluded that performers benefit very little from the proposed extension ("in most cases the resulting sums will not even cover bank charges").

And of course, ORG have written to the authorities in the UK, explaining exactly why the proposal makes no sense.

Thanks to inyucho for the image.

Saskia

Reply #4 on : Mon October 27, 2008, 11:08:13

Useful resources include:

European Commission (2008) GREEN PAPER Copyright in the Knowledge Economy, http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/copyright/docs/copyright-infso/greenpaper_en.pdf

and

The Gowers Review of Intellectual Property, an independent review of the copyright law of the United Kingdom focusing on "intellectual property rights", conducted from December 2005 to December 2006.

Commissioned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the report made 54 recommendations for improvements on a wide range of policy issues surrounding copyright and patents. Implementation has started in 2008.
The Review makes a good case against extensions and has found amongst others that: "Economic evidence indicates that the length of protection for copyright works already far exceeds the incentives required to invest in new works. Boldrin and Levine estimate that the optimal length of copyright is at most seven years. Posner and Landes, eminent legal economists in the field, argue that the extra incentives to create as a result of term extension are likely to be very small beyond a term of 25 years. Furthermore, it is not clear that extending term from 50 years to 70 or 95 years would remedy the unequal treatment of performers and producers from composers, who benefit from life plus 70 years protection."
http://www.hm-Treasury.gov.uk/media/583/91/pbr06_
gowers_report_755.pdf

The Open Rights Group : Blog Archive » Screw the evidence, says Burnham, let’s extend copyright term anyway

Reply #3 on : Thu December 11, 2008, 16:02:19

[...] If it turns out the UK Government are unwilling to reject the Directive, then it will be up to the European Parliament to see sense and vote it out when they come to consider it (likely next February). Which means it’s all the more important to write to your MEP if you object to the proposal to extend copyright term. [...]

Fractured Bloughts » Culture Featured People » Sound of Copyright

Reply #2 on : Fri February 06, 2009, 15:04:16

[...] If you can, try to contact your MEP and voice your concern - if you have - and urge him to represent your, the voters interest, not that of the Record Label Lobby. [...]

The Open Rights Group : Blog Archive » Sound Copyright conference attacks the “fairy tale” of copyright term extension.

Reply #1 on : Wed February 11, 2009, 22:28:16

[...] worldwide (IFLA), ORG (UK), Consumer Focus (UK) and the EFF (US). With this in mind we urge you to contact your MEPs either in Brussels or at their home constituency and let them know why term extension should be [...]

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