EU seeks to boost online music
*Proposals for a Europe-wide copyright and licensing system for online
music have been put forward by the European Commission. *
The aim is to help European online music services compete with those in
the US.
Anyone interested in offering paid-for downloads has to deal with 25
different licensing bodies in the 25 nations that make up the European
Union.
As a result, online music sales in Europe have lagged behind US sales.
Last year, people spent an estimated 207 million euros (US$248 million)
on music downloads in the US, compared to 27.2 million euros (US$32.5
million) in Europe.
* Saving money *
"The absence of pan-European copyright licences makes it difficult for
new European-based online services to take off," said Internal Market
and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy in a statement.
"This is why we are proposing the creation of Europe-wide copyrights
clearance."
As well as dealing with national licensing bodies, online music stores
also have to set up systems to collect royalty payments from each EU
member state.
A single system governing music rights would save money and boost
revenues for artists, according to the EU.
The proposal by the European Commission will now be discussed by member
states and industry bodies.
EU officials hope agreement on a way to implement the idea can be
reached by October.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/4663731.stm
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