More from the campaign to persuade Gordon Brown to increase the recorded music copyright term now - and this time the protests have been presented in video form.
As much much previously reported, record labels and recording artists have been lobbying the government regarding extending the recording copyright from 50 to 95 years for ages now; the former because the legendary recordings of the rock n roll era are about to come out of copyright; the latter because there is a whole generation of session musicians who will soon start to lose the royalty payments that stem from recordings they worked on in the sixties, which for some are a bulk of their earnings.
The government, though, is still officially tied to the findings of the 2006 Gowers Report on copyright law, which said there was no case for an extension. That said, those who advocate an extension do have some parliamentary support, plus some political types at a European level are pushing for the 95 year term to be introduced, a move which would bring Europe in line with the US on this matter.
Although the term extension campaign has support across the music industry, recording royalty body PPL has been leading much of the recent lobbying on the issue, in particular on behalf of its performer members, which include most of the session musicians facing a cut in royalty income as recordings come out of copyright.
Last week musicians present at PPL's Annual Performer Meeting all signed a petition calling on Gordon Brown to act on this issue. This week a video message has been sent to the prime minister featuring 28 musicians who have recorded with the likes of Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Madonna and Robbie Williams over the years. The musicians argue that their work plays a vital part in creating a valuable export industry for Britain, and that as a result they deserve to enjoy royalty payments thoughout their lifetimes.
Jazz trombonist and session musician Derek Wadsworth, who has worked on tracks by artists like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Tom Jones, says: "British session musicians are the finest in the world, the absolute finest. The amount of revenue that's been brought into this country by these people is quite staggering. Now we require the government to help us out a little bit and show perhaps a bit of gratitude. Instead they choose to kick us in the face and ignore our campaign to extend the copyright for these people and their estate".
Songwriter and keyboardist Phil Pickett, best known for his work with Culture Club, adds: "Ninety per cent of musicians earn less than £15,000 a year. These royalties are very small but they add up over the years".
As also previously reported, recording artists feel they get a rough deal from copyright laws compared to writers, composers, dramatists and visual artists, who all enjoy a copyright on their work of life plus 70 years. Recording artists get a share (contractual or, in the case of performing royalties, statutory) of the royalties generated by the copyright enjoyed by whoever releases a recording, which is normally a record company. Because companies generally enjoy shorter copyright terms than individuals, recording artists enjoy a much shorter term than songwriters et al.
This has become less of an issue in the US, as far as individual musicians are concerned, because, while labels and recording artists still don't enjoy as long a copyright term as songwriters, the 95 year term means artists do receive royalties for their lifetime. Hence lobbying efforts over here being primarily focused on bringing European copyright terms in line with America, rather than giving recording artists a life plus 70 year copyright.