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EU Commissioner Proposes 95 year Copyright

Posted by Zonk on from the infinity-plus-a-kabillion dept.

Albanach writes "The European Union Commissioner for the Internal Market has today proposed extending the copyright term for musical recordings to 95 years. He also wishes to investigate options for new levies on blank discs, data storage and music and video players to compensate artists and copyright holders for 'legal copying when listeners burn an extra version of an album to play one at home and one in the car ... People are living longer and 50 years of copyright protection no longer give lifetime income to artists who recorded hits in their late teens or early twenties, he said.'"

20 of 591 comments (clear)

  1. Sweet! by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 5, Funny

    That clinches it, I'm moving back to Europe.

    Obviously, Crack is cheaper and more plentiful over there.

    --
    Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
    1. Re:Sweet! by sm62704 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The copyright is shorter. Not short enough; I think the twenty years it used to be here in the US is plenty long, and I say that as a copyright holder.

      In fact, there are many at slashdot who want to abolish copyright entirely. I think there would be far fewer of these folks if copyrights were sanely limited.

      I don't know about Europe, but here in the US we're not supposed to have lifetime copyrights. In fact, our Constitution specifies copyrights and patents are to get artists to create in order that the public domain be enriched, and that they should last "a limited time." SCOTUS fucktards, ignoring the plain language the Constitution was written in, have ruled that "limited" means whatever Congress wants it to mean.

      Since all US laws are based on the Constitution, and the Supreme Court is ignoring it, I choose to ignore all the other God damned laws they write and to hell with them.

      -mcgrew

      --
      mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
    2. Re:Sweet! by dmomo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't understand why even the artist is entitled to profiting for their entire life. An economy has only so much budget for creative works. Every penny paid was generated from productivity. It seems wrong that we are putting production resources towards work that has long been compensated.

      - Artist does work
      - This costs productivity / resources
      - Artist gets paid for work by money generated from productivit
      - Amount of productivity / resources paid to artist doubles productivity exerted by Artist
      - Every time the artist gets paid for this work, productivity and resources are being poured into a black hole. Nothing is being created. Resources are being wasted.

      This is just bad economics. In short, people are laboring, and that labor benefits just one person. We can only afford to buy so much art. As the pool of available art increases, the budget for this does not. So we have less available for new works. It's time to free up those resources to put artists to work!

    3. Re:Sweet! by Sparr0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Then they are in the wrong line of work. The explicitly stated purpose of copyright is to encourage the creation of new works, NOT to ensure the lifetime income of works creators. If they want to make more money, start writing/performing new stuff.

    4. Re:Sweet! by eiapoce · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Answer is: Stop paying for music. Once they run out of money they will have no way of corrupting our goverment into these laws.

    5. Re:Sweet! by arth1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They do get compensated. Question is for how long they should continue to be compensated for something they no longer lift a finger for.
      The whole purpose of the copyright is to ensure progress, not individual riches.

      If anything, with the rate of progress being so much higher today than it was back when copyrights first were instated, it would make sense to make current copyrights shorter than what they were back then. Say 5 years. That would ensure that the artists would get a good source of income while working on their next production, and even be allowed to fail once or twice. And it would prevent them from resting on their laurels, which doesn't exactly enrich the world.

      And, quite frankly, this isn't about the artist anymore. Since copyrights unfortunately aren't unalienable rights, but goods that can be sold (even before the creation happens!), the real beneficiaries of copyright extensions are big companies who don't create anything, just make money on other people creating.
      If nobody were allowed to sell the rights to their creation, only enter short term distribution agreements, then artists wouldn't have to sell their rights in order to make money, because they would not compete with others able and willing to do so. They would be free to switch to a higher bidder or better marketer, a freedom which in itself would cause an increase in worth for their product. But they would have to keep on producing, or eventually the income would drain up.

      Regards,
      --
      *Art

    6. Re:Sweet! by JoshHeitzman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      People have no right to get paid for a single work for the rest of their life. Most people do not get this government privilege and I see no reason why musicians other artists should either.

      --
      Software Inventor
    7. Re:Sweet! by KnightNavro · · Score: 5, Insightful
      You're missing the point. Some bands just aren't touring bands, like the Beatles post 1966. They continued to produce great music after they stopped touring (Sgt Pepper, Abbey Road, Let It Be...).

      A more modern band may not tour for several reasons. Perhaps they don't gig because he lives in New Zealand, the singer's in London, and the guitarist lives in LA. To make a track, each musician lays down a track and FTPs it to their server, where the next guy downloads it to add his part. Should they be denied the right to make money for their music?

      Another example is one or two guys hanging out in a basement studio who lay down six or seven instruments worth of music. Yeah, they could go on tour and play their one or two instruments live while flying in the rest, but I'd feel robbed if that's what I saw for a $20 dollar ticket. Plus, many audiences want to see same band live as they hear on the CD. They could take the huge financial risk of hiring a band, teaching them the music, quitting their day jobs, and doing everything live, but why not just sell the CDs, keep their day jobs, and make enough money to cover the cost of the studio?

      Another example is a supergroup or a collaboration where the various members only have enough availability to be in the same place at the same time for one week to create the album, then they have to go to their regular bands.

      There is no shortage of reasons that a band may not tour.

      I'm not talking about a 95 year copyright being reasonable (it's not), but to say that a band should make all its money by gigging is ridiculous.

    8. Re:Sweet! by Chosen+Reject · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think I can understand why it bothers you. Are you the type of person who thinks price is related only to cost? Are you the type of person who thinks price and value are the same? If you are, then that is why you have such a hard time with it.

      First, price and cost are two unrelated things. As an example, diamonds cost a whole lot more than they cost to extract from the earth. And there are some things that are priced only slightly more than they cost to produce, otherwise nobody could sell it at a profit (ignoring loss leaders here). So yes, it is hard to create music (cost), but the market doesn't price it that high. Part of the reason the market doesn't price it much is because recording costs are practically nil. That might seem a contradiction, but what I'm really saying is that copies are so easy to make, that they become an infinite good. You cannot create a business around infinite goods alone. You have to sell something other than the copy, because copies are so easy to come by.

      Second, price and value are totally separate beasts. As an example, air is invaluable to humans, but a business would have a hard time making money by selling it because it is so abundant. Again, because copies of music are infinite goods, prices come down. The value is still the same. That is, no one values music less just because it's easy to copy, they just get it free.

      That is why the only way to make money off of albums is to try to control it with the threat of law and DRM. The problem though is DRM doesn't stop piracy, but instead annoys paying customers[1]. And copyright law is becoming so ludicrous (including what some copyright holders are doing to enforce it) that people no longer have respect for that law.

      Artists have to realize that. This is really a business model issue. Somebody above asked what happens if the musician didn't want to tour or the live performance didn't fit their music. They have several options. They can decide not to make their music, they can make their music and release it to the world for free, they can try to control it with DRM or threat of law (as mentioned above, this isn't looking all that good), or they can find other ways to make a profit from it (perhaps commissioned work, or have performances where they introduce each prerecorded piece). The first option doesn't get anywhere, the second option might not make any money but may get them recognition for a job making music (say for movies or operas or something), the third option is what a lot are doing now, but the fourth option can make them money.

      [1]I watched Spider-Man 3 the other day and I swear there were at least three copyright notices before I started to watch the movie. That is just stupid. Copyright infringers (which are the people making copies to sell or give away) aren't going to pay attention to it, and are probably going to not copy that part anyway.

      --
      Stop Global Warming!
      Just say no to irreversible processes!
  2. Why? by nebaz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why should anyone get a lifetime income for one thing they created? If they do, why would they bother creating anything else?

    --
    Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
    1. Re:Why? by Laur · · Score: 5, Interesting

      But then, when a successful artist dies in an airplane crash their wife and kids will be bankrupt very soon.
      That's what life insurance is for. Guess what, my employer will stop my paychecks when I die as well. The purpose of copyright is not to provide a legacy so your wife and kids will never have to do any productive work.
      --
      When you lose something irreplaceable, you don't mourn for the thing you lost, you mourn for yourself. - Harpo Marx
    2. Re:Why? by mhall119 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      because it's not your job to make sure they create something else. It's also not our job to make sure they can live comfortably without working for 70+ years.

      It's theirs to do with as they may, and no law you made should be able to take that away from them. And no law stops them from doing whatever the like with what they create. The law stops you and I from doing whatever *we* like with our copy.

      why should you get something from them for free? Nobody says we should. What people want is to be able to do whatever they want with that something *after* the artist has been compensated for it's creation.

      why would you bother creating anything yourself? Because artists like to create. Most musicians and visual artists in the world today get little or no compensation for their creations, yet they continue to create. Historically, artists have almost never been given decent compensation for the act of creation, and yet history is full of some of the best art (visual and musical) ever created, certainly better than most of the crap we're getting from millionaire artists these days. Inventors will continue to invent without patents, and artists will continue to create without copyrights, because that is who they are.
      --
      http://www.mhall119.com
    3. Re:Why? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Back to the topic a little more, why SHOULDN'T someone profit from something they created for that long? I make a living from copyright, and I am very lazy. I am completely okay with the idea of being paid in perpetuity for something I create now, but I am also aware that it removes my incentive to create more. The purpose of copyright, sadly, is not for me to get rich. It is to make me (and, more realistically, others) create things that enrich our culture. Imagine if Mozart have been able to keep cashing in on his first symphony for his entire life. Would he have bothered writing the other 40?

      Copyright needs to be a balance. A good creator needs to be rewarded well enough that they can make more creating than doing something else, but not so well that they just stop. I remember Terry Pratchett saying (possibly quoting someone else) 'when you stop writing, you aren't an author, you're just some guy who wrote a book once.' The copyright system should reward authors, not guys who wrote a book once (and I say this as a guy who wrote a book once).

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  3. Why bother? by Hexedian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why bother? It's not like anything created by the current artists in their teens will still be listened to five years from now, let alone fifty...

  4. I agree! by Jaysyn · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think that the government & various communications companies that I've done work for over the years should pay me for my designs & plans for 95 years after their creation. Why yes, they are works of art!

    --
    There is a war going on for your mind.
  5. Copyright time should be reduced, not increased by andyh3930 · · Score: 5, Informative
    If I do a days work I get paid a days wage, I don't see why it should be that much different for Musicians.

    If it takes 6 months to record an album why should they still get paid for the work in 90 years? Copyright time should be reduced, not increased After this time it would become freely distributable. If the time was reduced to 7-10 years this would surely promote creativity.

    However the artist should keep control if music was going to be used for other purpose other than listening (movie soundtrack or advert ) and be allowed to permit or deny such use.

    This would be a fairer system all round.

  6. Self defeating by Mprx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The more ridiculous the so called "intellectual property" laws become, the faster the remaining traces of respect the average person has for them will erode. While there's a valid argument for a short copyright term being beneficial to society, 95 years will only encourage people to ignore the law altogether.

  7. You FAIL by Mr.+Underbridge · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hereby copyright Trolling. Nobody is allowed to troll without my permission. License fees start at 100 BILLION dollars.

    Sorry punk. You can only copyright your own troll posts. Provided the act of trolling weren't patented, which it is, by me.

    My lawyers will be in touch.

    Sincerely,

    Mr. Underbridge

    Resident Troll

  8. Lifetime income? by arthurh3535 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "lifetime income to artists who recorded hits in their late teens or early twenties, he said."????

    When does everyone else get to have lifetime income too? And this only includes productions that were recorded way back when. There is nothing stopping said artist from re-recording a newer version of that hit song (best of...) that will have the same copyright protections.

    Why do artists and government officials think that Copyright means 'money for forever?'

    --
    No! It's a *SIG*. Keep the Special Interest Groups away! (Con joke!)
  9. WHAT? by Card · · Score: 5, Informative

    People are living longer and 50 years of copyright protection no longer give lifetime income to artists who recorded hits in their late teens or early twenties

    The commissioner is either ignorant or lying. I don't know which one is worse.

    The chosen term was 70 years from the death of the author (post mortem auctoris) for authors' rights (Art. 1), longer than the 50 year post mortem auctoris term required by the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Art. 7.1 Berne Convention). (Wikipedia)

    He should mean that the artists' children can enjoy the royalties for mere 50 years after their parent has died. Cry me a river.