EU Votes to Extend Music Copyright Term to 70 Years

The European Parliament has voted to lengthen sound recording copyright to 70 years, up from the previous limit of 50 years. If the proposal is passed by the EU states in the European Council to become a law, artists like The Beatles and the Rolling Stones will continue to receive royalties on recordings for another 20 years.

Sir Cliff Richard, Roger Daltrey and Sir Paul McCartney are among the many musicians who argued in favor of the proposal. However, British singers Paul McCartney, Elton John and Mick Jagger lost millions of their personal fortunes last year due to the economic crisis, so it’s possible that they are looking to compensate for their losses with the new EU law.

Obviously, the record labels welcome the proposal. They stand to gain the most from the copyright extension, as they collect the most money off of artist’s royalties. But the Green Party called for legislation that would reward artists instead of labels, and UK Green MEP Caroline Lucas said that:

“The copyright extension to 70 years will fill the pockets of a limited number of powerful corporations and harm performer rights and artistic creativity.”

Consumers want free music. Subscription services and online stores are becoming weaker, and streaming services are gaining momentum. For example, the Pandora iPhone app, released in June 2008, was downloaded four million times through March 30. Yesterday, five out the top ten iPhone music apps were services that, like Pandora, provide free music.

The proposal hinders musicians who sample older works for remixing, and helps the recording industry maintain their clutch on the availability free music. The legislation regarding copyright should reduce the time that artists can claim ownership to their works, not the other way around. There was even a proposal to prolong it to 95 years which, or course, is ridiculous. In today’s speedy Internet era, if an artist hasn’t made his money in 5 years, then he or she should release his works into public domain. If the copyright term is extended to 70 years, then lawsuits against piracy will continue, and the free music battle will take that much longer.

How long do you think copyright ownership should be?

Photo via cnet.co.uk
Source: BBC, Billboard,