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[John Howkins <john AT johnhowkins.com>]

Does anyone know who is doing the study (DCMS officials, patent office or an
outside consultant) and what its remit is?  Presumably, independnent means
outside?  If we know, we can talk to them.
John


On 16/7/05 10:28 am, "David M. Berry" <d.berry AT sussex.ac.uk> wrote:

> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I received this letter from my MP, David Lepper, this morning, which
> was a forwarded response from the DCMS (Department of Culture Media
> and Sport). I have a sneaking suspicion that EMI are lobbying hard
> and that the Government is somewhat sympathetic to the only remaining
> big record label in the UK when it starts to talk about its money
> running out....
> 
> - David
> 
> 
> ------------
> 
> 
> David Lepper MP
> House of Commons
> LONDON
> SW1A 0AA
> 
> 12 July 2005
> 
> 
> Dear David,
> 
> Thank you for your letter of 30 June to Tessa Jowell enclosing one
> from your constituent, Mr David Berry of xxxxxxx, about the copyright
> term on music.
> 
> The music industry is keen to see an extension of the copyright term
> for sound recordings, which is currently set at 50 years. Many UK
> recordings dating from the early 1960s - such as those by The Beatles
> and the Rolling Stones - are still selling well, and companies like
> EMI are concerned about their income streams once these recordings
> start to go out of copyright from 2010.
> 
> Despite the report in the press we have not in fact made a decision
> on whether the copyright term on music should be extended. We are,
> however, discussing the issue with other Departments, and have now
> reached agreement to commission an independent study to assess the
> pros and cons of change. Any change in copyright term would be a
> matter for EU law, so all relevant Government interests, as well as
> our EU partners, would need to be convinced that change is justified
> and in the best interests of UK stakeholders generally.
> 
> Yours
> 
> James Purnell MP
> Minister for Creative Industries and Tourism
> 
> DCMS
> 
> 
> 
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