heeft Sir Clif Richards nog bescherming nodig?

Anders dan de auteursrechten van componisten en testschrijvers die tot 70 jaar na de dood van de auteur beschermd zijn, komen de zogenaamde naburige rechten van uitvoerende musici in de meeste Europese landen 50 jaar na publicatie van een geluidsdrager te vervallen. In de parktijk betekend dat de naburige rechten aan vroege nummers van artisten als Sir Cliff Richards komen te vervallen.

Zoals te verwachten lobbyen kunstenaars en platenmaatschapijen inmiddels intensief voor een verlenging van de beschermingsduur van de naburig rechten. deze discussie speelt op dit moment met name in het Verenigt Koninkrijk. de Britse actiegroep ‘The Open Rights Group‘ organiseerd daarom op 13 November in london een evenement met de tittle ‘Should the term of copyright protection on sound recordings stay at 50 years or be extended?‘:

This question has been hanging in the air for the last couple of years, with the music industry lobbying government for an extension on the grounds that the royalties they earn from old recordings are essential to bringing new acts to the stage and supporting ageing musicians. They believe that copyright term on sound recordings should be the same length as the copyright in the composition, which currently stands at life plus 70 years.

On the other hand, copyright reformers argue that term should remain the same in order to protect the public domain and to free the huge number of old recordings which are no longer commercially viable and therefore not being released by the record labels. They also argue that there is a greater economic benefit to allowing works to pass into the public domain after 50 years so that new works can be made from them and new businesses that specialise in niche markets can flourish.

This question of term extension, along with many others, is now being considered by Andrew Gowers in his Review of Intellectual Property which was commissioned by the Treasury and is due to report before the end of the year.

The Open Rights Group believes that term extension is such an important issue that it deserves focused and rigourous discussion, so we’ve invited people from number of backgrounds to give us their thoughts and opinions.

meer informatie over het evenement hier