Slashdot Mirror
EU-wide Music Licensing Policies Published
www-xenu-dot-net writes "To stimulate the online music business in Europe,
EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy is recommending the elimination of territorial restrictions on the licensing and copyright enforcement of online music. Until now, so called licensing collection societies have enjoyed monopolies within their countries. (For online sales, the collecting societies typically charge 12 percent of the retail price today, compared to 9 percent on CDs.) EU Socialist Group leader Martin Schulz has called Mr McCreevy a "loose cannon whose arrogant opinions have provoked anti-EU feeling across Europe." That impression might not change with the new recommendation, as collecting societies in smaller European countries fear that they will lose out to larger rivals, potentially restricting the development of new music."
I won't take the obvious route here and say "w00t! fr33 p1r4cY 4 411!"
This is good policy, because if the EU is to be taken seriously as a single bloc trading partner, then it must present a standardized set of laws and regulations so that it isn't just a loosely bound bunch of states. By unifying the law under a single EU regulating entity, they effectively present themselves as one country.
While this may hurt certain groups within the borders of the EU, the EU was never supposed to be about individual states or particular companies. It was meant to unify Europe into a large trading bloc that would rival the U.S. in trading and negotiating power.
This is exactly what the EU should be doing.
Jesus saved me from my past. He can save you as well.
> collecting societies in smaller European countries fear
> that they will lose out to larger rivals, potentially
> restricting the development of new music
LOL... "new music" isn't dependent on collection societies. People driven by the desire to make art create 'new music'. Check out Jamendo or the podsafe stuff or Staccato for tons of great stuff outside the 'business'.
as collecting societies in smaller European countries fear that they will lose out to larger rivals, potentially restricting the development of new music.
Doesn't parse. For all I know, the amount of collected money that goes to new music, i.e. startup bands, young groups, etc. is so small that for all practical purposes you can treat it as being zero.
On the other hand, the amount that stays with the collecting societies to pay for "expanses" and "overhead" is considerable.
Sounds like someone seing his protection racket, uh, sorry, "business model" being washed away, nothing else.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Right, let's put forward a proposal to abolish the direct appointment of unelected commissioners, increase the importance of the Parliament, and have a directly elected president (as opposed to the joke that the presidency is now, rotating from country to country). Democratise the EU, give the people their say.
Result: popular outcry. Superstate. Federalists. Treason, they're selling out our country! Churchill spinning in grave! Where Hitler Failed They're Succeeding Without A Shot Fired!
The EU is never going to get anywhere this way. At least one country is always going to throw a tantrum if it doesn't get its way, and it'll usually be the same one country. De Gaulle was right from the beginning; for the sake of the union, throw us out, NOW.
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
AFAIK, this is already the case. I was under the impression that for the past couple of years the likes of record companies have been able to use collection societies from other EU member states. The whole point was to eliminate the monopolies that organisations like the MCPS/PRS have, and they were getting worried about losing business; I seem to remember one of the majors were going to defect to SABAM (Belgium).
Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals... except the weasel."