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 [...]

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When the European Commission put forward their proposal to retrospectively extend the copyright term granted to sound recordings, locking away vast swathes of our cultural heritage in a commercial vacuum for 45 years, it was clear that they had rejected all the expert evidence in favour of voodoo economics.
Now Professor Bernt Hugenholtz has written a [...]

Read the rest of "Commission adviser accuses Barroso of intentionally misleading European policy-makers and citizens on copyright"

In a letter to the Times today Europe’s leading professionals in the field of intellectual property have explained why the proposal for copyright term extension would harm Europe’s creators and consumers:

Read the rest of "Copyright extension: what you can do."

Disregarding the evidence-based findings of their own advisors, the UK government’s independent analysis, and those of Europe’s leading intellectual property research centres, the EU Commission has formally accepted DG Internal Market’s proposal to extend the duration of copyright protection for sound recordings.
Copyright term is a quid pro quo, designed to balance the interests of consumers [...]

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Could Europe be drafting a new law to disconnect suspected filesharers from the internet? MEPs have already signalled their condemnation of this approach. But last-minute amendments to telecommunications legislation could bring the so-called “3 strikes” approach in by the backdoor. If you want your MEP to stick to their guns on 3 strikes, write to [...]

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Today, the leading European centres for intellectual property research have released a joint letter to EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso, enclosing an impact assessment detailing the far-reaching and negative effects of the proposal to extend the term of copyright in sound recordings. With the confusion and disillusionment of Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty [...]

Read the rest of "Term Extension “will damage Commission’s reputation”, top legal advisers tell Barroso"

Thanks to everyone who wrote to their MPs over the last few weeks to ask them to object to Pete Wishart’s Private Members Bill to extend copyright term.
I’m pleased to report that an honourable member did indeed object to the Bill when it came round. He is as yet unidentified (although Hansard will hopefully [...]

Read the rest of "Term extension Private Members Bill stopped in tracks"

I’m pleased to announce today the launch of a Europe-wide campaign against the extension of copyright term. Thanks to ORG volunteers, and some very nice people I met at FOSDEM, the new campaign site - soundcopyright.eu - is available in English, French and German.
Please visit the site, and sign the petition.
The recording industry has been [...]

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European Commissioner Charlie McCreevy may have surprised us with his rogue call for copyright term extension from Brussels last week, but there are battles to be fought closer to home, too.
On 7 March, a Private Member’s Bill proposed by Pete Wishart MP will have its second reading in the House of Commons. It is vital [...]

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When the government mailed half the nation’s bank details to the darknet at the end of last year, it looked like 2008 was going to be the year privacy issues hit the headlines. But, when it comes to digital rights stories, privacy has been seeing stiff competition from that old foe of the digital society: [...]

Read the rest of "Copyright commotions 101: Free event at LSE next month"