The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, or IFPI, which represents European music labels, is calling on the European Commission to bring the issue to EU countries, which will consider the matter sometime next year, according to IFPI spokeswoman Francine Cunningham.
"From a cultural point of view, we find it strange that European artists are protected more in the U.S. than they are back home," she said.
Currently in the EU, there are separate copyright terms for composers and performers. Composers are awarded copyright for the life of the author plus 70 years. Performers hold a copyright for 50 years from the first recording. It's the 50-year term the IFPI wants to extend.
"We feel there is real discrimination here," Cunningham said. "Record companies in the U.S., their assets are valued much more highly because they have a much longer term of (copyright) protection.... When you have such a huge disparity, it's very hard to do business."
Copyright terms for individual creators in the United States are awarded for the life of the author plus 70 years. Companies hold copyrights for 95 years before creative works return to the public domain.
Cunningham said that because the copyright term is longer in countries like the United States, Australia and Singapore, the European countries' copyright terms should be extended.
That's an "outrageous" argument, said Stanford Law School professor Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons, a group that developed a system of flexible copyright licenses that enable sharing and remixing of creative works (with the author's permission).
"They had a 50-year monopoly," Lessig said. "They are asking for a welfare grant to say, 'Give us another 50-year monopoly.'"
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,67783,00.html
On a related matter, Israel joined the Creative Commons community www.creativecommons.org
on Thursday, with a launch event at which Lawrence Lessig ("the "Elvis of Cyberlaw" according to Wired) appeared by video/web conference.
Head of Image Resources & Copyright Management
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Tel +972-2-670-8874
Fax +972-2-670-8064
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