The
Commission published a study on the current position in July,
concluding that the absence of pan-European copyright licences
makes it difficult for new European-based online services, such as
simulcasting (a simultaneous broadcast of programs or events across
more than one medium) and webcasting (where a broadcast is uploaded
by the sender and downloaded by the receiver), to take off.
In particular, it found that the present structures for
cross-border collective management of music copyright – which were
developed for the analogue environment – prevent music from
fulfilling its unique potential as a driver for online content
services.
It consulted on the issue, asking respondents whether it
should:
- do nothing;
- improve cooperation among collecting societies by allowing each
society in the EU to grant a EU-wide license covering the other
societies’ repertoires; or
- give right-holders the choice to appoint a collective rights
manager for the online use of their musical works across the entire
EU.
According to the Commission, respondents were generally agreed
that doing nothing was not an option, but were divided between the
other two approaches.
Commercial users favoured option two; the majority of collective
rights managers favoured modified versions of the second option;
while the music publisher’s community, the independent record
labels and certain collective rights managers preferred the third
option.
As a result, the Commission has recommended that right-holders
and commercial users of copyright-protected material should be
given a choice as to their preferred model of licensing, as
different online services might require different forms of EU-wide
licensing policies.
The recommendation therefore proposes the elimination of
territorial restrictions and customer allocation provisions in
existing licensing contracts, while leaving right-holders who do
not wish to make use of those contracts the right to offer their
repertoire for EU-wide direct licensing.
The recommendation also includes provisions on governance,
transparency, dispute settlement and accountability of collective
rights managers, which the Commission hopes will introduce a
culture of transparency and good governance into the system.
“Today we have made workable proposals on how licensing of
musical work for the internet can be improved,” said Internal
Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy. “I believe that
this recommendation strikes the right balance between ease of
licensing and maintaining the value of copyright protected works so
that content is not available on the cheap.”
“I will be monitoring the situation closely,” he added, “and if
I am not satisfied that sufficient progress is being made, I will
take tougher action.”
