British Music Rights (see note 1) represents over 50,000 composers, songwriters, music publishers and their collecting societies.

Music creators and publishers in the UK play a valuable role at the cutting edge of innovation and creativity both for European culture and the European economy in the information society. Music plays a key role in the advance of the whole  knowledge economy contributing significantly to the take up and profitability of digital operators’ products and services – as borne out by the emphasis on access to music in adverts for broadband, mobile handsets, and hardware - as well as providing the strong emotional qualities that enable third parties to build brands and attract subscribers by association (see note 2).  Our key recommendations based on our expertise relate to questions 2 and 7; we also briefly comment on question 3.

• The European Copyright Acquis broadly provides a positive framework for composers, songwriters and music publishers; we will provide specific comments on the review of the Copyright Directive and the Copyright Acquis.
• The cross border administration of online music still needs to be improved; as far as our collecting societies members are concerned we are already undertaking various initiatives outlined below in order to implement the recent Recommendation on collective cross-border management of copyright and related rights for legitimate online music services (2005/737/EC). We welcome the “option 3” approach which needs to be upheld as an incentive to rights holders and collecting societies to streamline cross border licensing whilst maintaining the value of music.

Specific questions;

2) In which ways have you benefited from the opportunities offered by the internal market? Where, in your view, does it function well? Where do you see shortcomings?

7) Do you consider that the current IPR regimes foster growth and innovation? In your experience, where is more focus or action needed?

Copyright Acquis: Harmonisation and strengthening of Intellectual Property and in particular copyright has benefited composers, songwriters and music publishers: following the adoption of the Copyright Directive in 2001 and the implementation in most member states, a legal framework is in place that encourages right holders to provide access to music in a convenient way according to consumer choice e.g. online via downloading or streaming or in  more traditional formats such as CDs or DVDs.

There are specific areas within the Copyright Acquis which still need to be addressed (such as harmonisation of the calculation of term for co-written works) and we will comment on the expected consultation later this year. We understand that the Commission is working on a Recommendation on private copying, and will respond in more detail to the current stakeholders’ consultation.
 
Collective cross-border management of rights: Collective licensing for online music on a multi-territorial basis is still at an early stage of development given that historically copyright has been administered on a territory by territory basis. So, if a music service provider wants to provide a multi-territorial music service he will need to obtain a separate music licence for each territory in which the service is available. Whilst not all music service providers desire to provide a “one size fits” all pan-European music service preferring instead to provide services premised on the provision of local repertoire to local markets, right holders, their collecting societies and music service providers unanimously agree that the possibility of a convenient licensing mechanism for European online music services is essential. Our collecting society members MCPS and PRS have been providing a convenient joint one-stop- shop licence  for the global repertoire within the UK for some time; they also have been working  on new pan- European licensing models by:

• Co-operating with the German collecting society GEMA on the development of a pan-European licensing structure – covering works in the catalogue of EMI Music Publishing;
• Developing a new technology platform for licensing in co-operation with the Spanish society SGAE, eLos;
• Providing pan-European licensing arrangements to streamline licensing procedures for cross-border services such as the ringtones offers provided by Voice Over Internet Protocol telephony service, Skype.

We welcome the Commission Recommendation on collective cross-border management of copyright for legitimate online music services as an incentive to rights holders and collecting societies to streamline cross border licensing for commercial users whilst maintaining the value of music (see note 3).   We urge the Commission and DG Market to ensure that the objectives of the Recommendation are accomplished and that there are no barriers to the freedom of providing pan European services (also in line with the raison d’etre of the amended proposal for a Directive on services in the internal market COM(2006) 160 final).

Furthermore, we need the European Commission to ensure that there is an environment within the market which allows the relevant players to implement new licensing models that comply with the principles set down in the Recommendation.

3) Do you agree with this choice of priorities? Are there others in your view?

Innovation: We broadly agree with the five priorities outlined, in particular the stress on innovation and creativity. Creativity and innovation are essential  to promote the Lisbon Agenda and make the European Union the world's most dynamic and competitive economy by 2010 by transforming Europe into the world's largest knowledge based economy.

Better Regulation: We support the recent approach of the Commission and DG Market in particular as regards “better regulation” both in view of the need of economic evidence before initiating legislation as well as the trend towards soft law in co-operation with the relevant stakeholders. Soft law allows law-makers to avoid long winded legislative processes thus encouraging more immediate results. In comparison, in the time it takes for hard law to come into force, the issues it was intended to address have often changed to the extent that the legislation is no longer relevant or effective.

Notes

1. British Music Rights is the consensus voice of Britain’s composers and songwriters, music publishers and the UK collecting societies. The members of British Music Rights are the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, the Music Publishers Association (MPA), the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS).
2. Reference to the report commissioned by British Music Rights Respecting the Value of Digital Music.
3. British Music Rights' position paper on the European Commission's Recommendation on online music management for legitimate online services is accessible via our website.