Denouncing musical 'apartheid' where only
major label music is the subject of actions, founders of a new
network, called Merlin, said they would be tough in their
protection of independent artists' music copyrights.
"Up till now the independents' copyrights have
not been compensated," Alison Wenham told reporters at music
industry conference Midem. She said that Merlin "would show its
teeth to bring that attitude to a swift end".
Merlin is a new licensing agency which will
represent the interests of independent music labels. Up to 80% of
CDs released are on independent labels, Merlin said, yet major
labels have been the first to negotiate deals with services such as
Apple's iTunes to take advantage of the growing market in
downloaded music.
Comments at the agency's launch, though,
underlined that Merlin's genesis in the indie market will not make
it a soft touch for file-sharers or for websites which make
unauthorised use of members' music.
"The form of copyright apartheid being applied
to the value of independent rights is unacceptable," Charles Caldas
told the Midem conference.
Merlin is a non-profit agency owned by its
members, the copyright holders. A board will be appointed in March
and the organisation will be funded by administration charges for
its service and by contributions from members.
The organisation was started as a part of
existing indie body the World Independent Network but it said it
will be a stand alone organisation.
The body has been formed to protect its
members' interests and to ensure a better deal for indies, who till
now have had to bargain with sometimes huge corporations on their
own. "[National independent label associations] have shown the
collective muscle displayed in disputes and negotiations with the
likes of MTV and iTunes and most recently in the European Court's
decision to overturn EC approval of the Sony BMG merger," said a
Merlin statement.
As well as winning members a better rate for
music use, the body also hopes to drum up new business by providing
music users with an easy, central hub for rights negotiations.
"Services seeking to license a broad range of repertoire across the
independent sector have in the past faced a complex, frustrating
and laborious task, potentially involving the negotiation of
hundreds, if not thousands, of contracts with labels and their
distributors and aggregators in a range of territories around the
globe," said the Merlin statement.
