EU set to extend copyright on sound recordings -- call your MEP!

Glyn sez, "The flawed proposal to extend the term of copyright protection afforded to sound recordings, robbing consumers in the name of performers but for the benefit of the world's four major record labels, is being fast-tracked through the democratic process. It's vital that you contact your MEPs now and tell them why term extension is bad news. The Open Rights Group describes what has been happening so far and their meeting with MEPs in Europe. How ever they say that the best lobbying tool know to man is a constituent writing to their MEP, and now's the time to do it."

They proposed a host of worrying new amendments which threaten to:

* Weaken further already inadequate measures intended to allow orphan works, and commercially worthless but culturally significant recordings to pass into the public domain (Culture (CULT), Internal Market (IMCO) and the Industry, Technology and Research (ITRE) committees draft reports).

* Allow record labels to deduct “costs” from a fund intended to benefit session musicians, further shrinking the pot of money made available to performers in favour of labels (IMCO committee draft report).

* Dramatically widen the scope of the Directive to include audio-visual recording, even though no relevant impact assessment has been conducted into what effect this might have on consumers and follow-on innovators. (JURI and ITRE committee draft reports).

From bad to worse: MEPs to rush through disembowelled term extension directive. (Thanks, Glyn!)

[#1 posted by arkizzle , November 26, 2008 10:18 AM]

8 MEPs written to.

I've only ever gotten form letters back from any of mine, Mary Honeyball and Syed Kamall etc. Some not even that. I once got a personal letter from one of them and honestly felt like the king of the world for 5 minutes.

[#2 posted by Brother Phil , November 26, 2008 12:46 PM]

I've emailed a few jouralists about this - might get some response if we're lucky.

[#3 posted by arkizzle , November 26, 2008 1:14 PM]

L U C K Y

[#4 posted by madjo , November 27, 2008 12:39 AM]

*sigh* not this again... Do these MEPs think that one day it won't get noticed until it's too late? It really seems as if Europe is run by a bunch of sneaky bastards who love nothing more than to screw over their constituents, and grab the bags money dangling from the carrot-stick by the Big Bu$ine$$e$.

[#5 posted by arkizzle , November 30, 2008 9:11 AM]

Madjo, not just Europe.