Greedy musicians sign advert
You’re sick of reading about it and I’m sick of writing about it but copyright extension just won’t go away. After the Gower’s review recommended no extension to the copyright term for sound recordings I really thought we’d seen the back of this. Apparently not. This morning I read that 4500 musicians including Sir Cliff Richard and Katie Melua (now there’s a soporific duet) have signed an advert in the Financial Times calling again for an extension of copyright on sound recordings to 95 years. Is it just me or is this all getting a bit demeaning? My advice to the signatories of this advert: stop this pathetic grubbing around to wring out every last penny from your faded glories. If you want to make more money record some new songs, go on a tour, work as a musician. If that doesn’t work then do what the rest of us do and get a normal job.
In related news, independent music labels have apparently claimed that fair use copying rights (also called for in the Gowers review) could “open the floodgates” to a tidal wave of private copying and (shock, horror!) sharing. For the nth time: it’s unfair to make people pay for the same thing twice if they want to use it another way. It wouldn’t fly in any other industry and entertainment shouldn’t be treated any differently.