British Universities Film & Video Council

moving image and sound, knowledge and access

EU extends copyright on sound recordings

The EU Council yesterday voted to extend the copyright term on sound recordings from 50 to 70 years.

Under the 50-year rule copyright on recordings by artists such as Cliff Richard and The Beatles would have run out shortly, and record labels and musicians have lobbied for the extension.

This ruling goes against recommendations in the 2006 Gowers Review of Intellectual Property, which concluded that royalties paid to individual performers would be very low and the change would have a negative impact on consumers and industry, a position reiterated in the follow-up Hargreaves Report, which published earlier this year.

To download the report, click here.

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