Cc-uk mailing list

[Timothy Cowlishaw <timcowlishaw AT gmail.com>]

The Open Rights Group is doing a free event at Conway Hall,  London,  
on the 13 November to examine
whether or not copyright term should be extended for sound recordings.
If you want to come, then you can sign up online:

http://releasethemusic.eventbrite.com

I'd be really grateful if you could forward this event info on to
whatever lists you may be on which might be relevant, or blog it if
you're inclined to.

Hope to see some of you there!


http://www.openrightsgroup.org
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Should the term of copyright protection on sound recordings stay at 50
years or be extended?

This question has been hanging in the air for the last couple of
years, with the music industry lobbying government for an extension on
the grounds that the royalties they earn from old recordings are
essential to bringing new acts to the stage and supporting ageing
musicians. They believe that copyright term on sound recordings should
be the same length as the copyright in the composition, which
currently stands at life plus 70 years.

On the other hand, copyright reformers argue that term should remain
the same in order to protect the public domain and to free the huge
number of old recordings which are no longer commercially viable and
therefore not being released by the record labels. They also argue
that there is a greater economic benefit to allowing works to pass
into the public domain after 50 years so that new works can be made
from them and new businesses that specialise in niche markets can
flourish.

This question of term extension, along with many others, is now being
considered by Andrew Gowers in his Review of Intellectual Property
which was commissioned by the Treasury and is due to report before the
end of the year.

The Open Rights Group believes that term extension is such an
important issue that it deserves focused and rigourous discussion, so
we've invited people from number of backgrounds to give us their
thoughts and opinions.

We would be delighted if you could join us - the event is free to all,
but places are limited so book now!

Schedule:

6.00pm - Registration.
6.30pm - Keynote by Professor Jonathan Zittrain, Chair in Internet
Governance and Regulation at Oxford University.
7.30pm - Panel Discussion, moderated by John Howkins, RSA & Adelphi
Charter; guests include Caroline Wilson, University of Southampton,
Faculty of Law; others TBC.
8.30pm - DJ set by The Chaps, playing a pre-1955 public domain set.
10.00pm - Close.

If you sign up, but find you are not able to come, please do let us
know so we can release your seat to someone else.