McCreevy Speaks At Conference On Copyright And The Creative Economy

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

11 October 2005

Speaking at the conference on Copyright and the Creative Economy hosted by the UK presidency of the European Union last week, Internal Market Commissioner, Charlie McCreevy outlined the European Commission's recommendations for the management of online rights to musical works.

Mr McCreevy announced that:

"For some time we in the Commission have been looking at the way that copyright has been managed and cleared. We have come to the clear conclusion that the current situation can be improved. It has been acknowledged for many years that without an initiative in this area, the European copyright edifice would be incomplete. I am pleased to be able to tell you today how we plan to fill that gap."

"It is clear to us that the market for online music holds enormous potential that has yet to be realised. To ensure maximum benefit, therefore, we have chosen to concentrate our first efforts in this field. The digital market for music was worth $330 million in 2004 – estimates expect it to double in 2005. Analysts predict that digital sales could read 25% of record company revenues in five years. 50 million portable music players were sold in 2004, including 10 million i-pods. All players in the industry stand to benefit from this growth. But Europe does not appear to be making the most of these new opportunities and, unless it is better equipped to exploit this potential fully, it will continue to lag behind."

He continued:

"Europe’s model of copyright clearance belongs more to the nineteenth century than to the 21st. Once upon a time it may have made sense for the member state to be the basic unit of division. The internet overturns that premise. In the nineteenth century, music was primarily performed in cafés, bars or music halls that needed to be monitored locally by local societies. But this is no longer the only or even most important way the Europeans consume music. The internet does not recognise borders...While technology has advanced, the way we license music has not kept pace."

He revealed that:

"The Commission, therefore, has examined how to remove the main obstacles holding back the market by (1) introducing effective models for cross-border licensing of copyright-protected content in the online environment; and (2) introducing better governance in how collective managers work," and added:

"I have proposed to my colleagues in the College, a recommendation which will set out a set of ground rules by which we believe the system should operate. I hope that this soft-law instrument will be adopted in the next few days and that it will deliver results."

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