http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110908/15491315851/eu-officially-seizes-public-domain-retroactively-extends-copyright.shtmlfrom the stealing-from-the-public dept:
As was unfortunately expected, despite no evidence that this made any economic sense at all, the member states of the EU have agreed to retroactively extend copyright another 20 years, at which point you can expect it to be extended again (thanks to jtdeboe for sending this over). This is nothing short of governments and the entertainment industry seizing works from the public domain. As we've said before, the purpose of copyright law is to incent the creation of new works. If existing copyright law was enough to incentivize the creation at the time, then there's simply no reason to retroactively extend the law.
This proposal, which various studies have shown will do little to help content creators, has been pushed for a long time by the record labels. It had been blocked in Europe for a while, but for reasons unknown, Denmark recently changed its mind,
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110408/03061013821/denmark-reverses-position-copyright-extension-may-impact-all-europe.shtml thereby enabling this effort
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110411/04271413851/eu-getting-ready-to-vote-unnecessary-copyright-extension.shtml to flat out seize material from the public.
It's especially sad that this comes just a few months after the Hargreaves report, http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110518/00355214310/uk-copyright-review-hardly-surprising-radical-will-face-opposition.shtml which explicitly points out that so much policy is made without evidence -- and copyright extension is a perfect example of that. Citizens of the EU: your politicians just sold you out to the record labels, taking away content that was legally yours and no longer will be.
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http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/cultuur%2Ben%2Bmedia/muziek/110908_CopyrightEU verlengt copyright op muziek naar 70 jaar
do 08/09/2011 - 20:50 De lidstaten van de Europese Unie zijn het eens geraakt om het copyright op muziekuitvoeringen te verlengen van 50 naar 70 jaar. Ook zal er een fonds worden opgericht waarin producenten 20 procent van de inkomsten uit het verlengde copyright zullen storten.
Vier jaar geleden kwam de Europese Commissie met een voorstel op de proppen om het copyright voor studiomuzikanten en uitvoerders te verlengen van 50 naar 95 jaar. Critici merkten echter op dat de maatregel vooral de muziekbusiness ten goede zou komen. De meeste uitvoerders en vertolkers dragen de rechten op de opnames immers over aan platenfirma's of producenten.
Door tegenstand bij sommige lidstaten is uiteindelijk gekozen voor een termijn van 70 jaar. In de praktijk betekent de nieuwe regeling dat een muzikant voor een periode van 70 jaar een vergoeding zal krijgen elke keer zijn of haar nummer wordt gespeeld. Nu is dat nog 50 jaar. Componisten hadden eerder al een copyright-bescherming van 70 jaar.
Het akkoord houdt ook de oprichting in van een fonds waarin producenten, die dus vaak de rechten op de muziek in handen hebben, 20 procent van de inkomsten uit het verlengde copyright zullen storten. Dat geld zou dan de muzikanten en uitvoerders wat meer soelaas moeten bieden. Het akkoord zal op 12 september op een ministerraad formeel bekrachtigd worden.
translation:
The Member States of the European Union have agreed to extend musical copyrights from 50 to 70 years. Also, a fund will be created to pay music labels and producers 20 percent of the revenues from the extended copyright.
Four years ago the European Commission came up with a proposal to extend the copyright for studio musicians and performers from 50 to 95 years. Critics noted, however, that the measure would primarily benefit the music labels. Most performers turn the rights to the recordings over to the record companies and producers because of contracts.
Despite opposition from some member states, the EU eventually opted for a term of 70 years. In practice this means that under the new scheme a copyright holder will receive a fee every time their song is played for a period of 70 years. Currently this period is 50 years. Composers had previously been a copyright protection for 70 years.
The agreement includes the establishment of a fund in which will pay producers and labels, who often hold the rights to the music in hand, 20 percent of the revenues from the extended copyright. That money would come from the musicians and performers to provide more relief to the actual holders. The agreement will be formally ratified on Sept. 12 by the Council of Ministers.
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Another corporate grab, stifling creativity, and sure to be backed up by massive lawsuits, to further enrich the few at the expense of the many.:wtf:
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