EU Council votes to extend copyright to 70 years

THE EUROPEAN UNION Council has voted to extend the copyright on sound recordings from 50 to 70 years.

According to the BBC, the decision to extend copyright laws follows a campaign by recording artists who said they should continue to earn money from their creations.

However, it is the big music recording labels that will really benefit from the extension, as well as the bigger artists such as U2's Bono or mums' favourite, Cliff Richard.

This is because the change applies to the copyright on studio recordings, often owned by the record labels, rather than the rights to the composition that is owned by the songwriters.

The 50 year rule would have seen the copyright on tunes by The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and The Who expire in the next few years, meaning anyone could use the songs how they wanted. This could have seen some very bad covers and advert themes but at least the record labels would have ceased to receive royalties.

Rolling Stone Mick Jagger told the BBC that the European Union's decision was "obviously advantageous" to musicians.

"Obviously the record business is not what it was, so people don't earn as much as they used to," he said. "[The royalties] can extend their lives and the lives of their families who inherit their songs."

The European Union Council said, "Performers generally start their careers young and the current term of protection of 50 years often does not protect their performances for their entire lifetime. Therefore, some performers face an income gap at the end of their lifetimes."

Jim Killock, executive director of consumer organisation the Open Rights Group, told the BBC there was "never any evidence it was going to do any good".

He said, "It puts money into the pockets of big labels. It's unlikely to benefit smaller artists and it will mean that a lot of sound recordings that are out of print will stay out of print."

Last week, a last ditch attempt was made by a Pirate Party member of the European Parliament to block the plans to extend copyright on creative works from 50 to 70 years.

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and the Netherlands were in opposition to the proposal. µ