Re: [ARSCLIST] Britain reverses position on copyright extension

[Michael Biel <mbiel@xxxxxxxxx>]

You have confused two different types of copyrights, personal and 
corporate/collective/work-for-hire.  The statements you have quoted do 
not cover the sound recordings themselves, and that is the subject -- 
the only subject -- that is being discussed in this thread.  Songs, 
books, paintings, and other individually created works are copyright by 
the people who created them, with a term length that is based on the 
lifetime of the last remaining creator.  Phonorecords, films, and other 
works that are created by a company are in a different category.  These 
have a fixed term that was originally 75 years from fixation (I 
accidentally put down 70.)  The standard in all the other countries for 
this category of copyright, including the countries mentioned in the 
E.U. directive, was 50 years.  .  The E.U. directive mentioned here only 
extended the personal copyright.  The Bono bill also included the 
corporate/collective copyright.  The Bono bill lengthened the 
corporate/collective copyright to 95 years while the length most 
countries remained, and still remain, at 50. ("Those with longer terms 
include India (60 years), Australia, Singapore, Chile, Peru, Brazil, 
Ecuador and Turkey (70 years), Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala (75 years) 
and Columbia (80 years). None have a term as long as that of the U.S.")

There is not any real problem with the copyright length for things like 
songs because there is a compulsory licensing which requires that any 
song that has been recorded once MUST be licensed to be recorded by 
anybody who applies for a mechanical.  They can't refuse your right to 
record their song.  But there is no such requirement built into the 
copyright laws for the sound recording.  Even if the performer wants to 
make use of their own recording the record company CAN REFUSE because 
the company owns the copyright, not the performer.  Sure the performer 
could own the company and/or own the copyright, but that is not the 
general way the record industry has been run.  Sometimes a performer can 
be able to buy back their recordings such as what Stan Kenton did with 
Creative Artists and Andy Williams did with Barnaby.  But the company 
can refuse to sell or name a huge price.  (". . . the Recording Artist 
Groups, comprising the Future of Music Coalition, the American 
Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the American Federation 
of Musicians, has recommended that a compulsory license should be 
available to the performing artist once a recording is out of print for 
two (2) years.")

You might notice that in the EC proposal of a couple of months ago there 
was a provision that required the companies to either use the recordings 
within a year after the 50 year original term or else the copyrights 
would be put into a compulsory licensing status.  Almost like "use it or 
lose it" except they can get a statutory licensing fee.  But that is not 
part of any American proposal, but Sam Brylawski, Tim Brooks, ARSC, and 
some other organizations are trying to lobby Congress to put in an 
abandonment-type of clause in our law that might release unused 
copyrights into a fair use/public domain status.

http://www.arsc-audio.org/pdf/ARSC-MLAcopyright.pdf
http://www.arsc-audio.org/pdf/pr801.pdf
http://www.arsc-audio.org/copyright-recommendations.html  
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/gowers

Mike Biel  mbiel@xxxxxxxxx

Bob Olhsson wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> >From Michael Biel: "...The Bono act brought a 70 year term -- already longer
> than any other 
> term in the world -- to a 90 year term.  So how can you include the Bono 
> act in the category of : "the purpose of bringing each country's 
> copyright term in line with all of the others..."
>
> from http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/T?&report=sr315&dbname=104&; 
> 	
> "The purpose of the bill is to ensure adequate copyright protection for
> American works in foreign nations and the continued economic benefits of a
> healthy surplus balance of trade in the exploitation of copyrighted works.
> The bill accomplishes these goals by extending the current U.S. copyright
> term for an additional 20 years. Such an extension will provide significant
> trade benefits by substantially harmonizing U.S. copyright law to that of
> the European Union while ensuring fair compensation for American creators
> who deserve to benefit fully from the exploitation of their works. Moreover,
> by stimulating the creation of new works and providing enhanced economic
> incentives to preserve existing works, such an extension will enhance the
> long-term volume, vitality and accessibility of the public domain."
>
> " Thirty five years ago, the Permanent Committee of the Berne Union began to
> reexamine the sufficiency of the life-plus-50-year term of protection. In
> the intervening years, the inadequacy of the life-plus-50-year term to
> protect creators in an increasingly competitive global marketplace has
> become more apparent, leading to actions by several nations to increase the
> duration of copyright. Most significantly, the nations of the European Union
> issued a directive from the Council of the European Communities in 1993,
> committing the member countries to implement a term of protection equal to
> the life of the author plus 70 years by July 1, 1995.14
>
> [Footnote]
>
> [Footnote] 14Id.
>
> To date, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Spain,
> Sweden, and the United Kingdom have all complied with the EU Directive.
> Furthermore, Portugal has recognized a perpetual term of protection for much
> of this century. Other countries are currently in the process of bringing
> their laws into compliance. In addition, as the Register of Copyrights,
> Marybeth Peters, testified before the Committee, countries seeking to join
> the EU, such as Poland, Hungary, Turkey, the Czech Republic, and Bulgaria,
> are likely to amend their copyright laws to comply with the EU Directive.15"
>
>
> Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN
> Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control
> Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined!
> 615.385.8051 http://www.hyperback.com    http://www.thewombforums.com
>
>
>