Talking of copyright law, which we weren't really, but we were in that territory, one of Andy Burnham's predecessors in the Culture Secretary role, Chris Smith, will chair a conference on 'copyright and enterprise' next month.
The event will, I think, ask whether the current copyright framework, most of which was created before the internet really existed, still stacks up in the 21st century. The event, to take place at the Royal Institute Of British Architects on 23 Apr, takes as its starting point the fact that it's the 300th anniversary of the Statute Of Anne, arguably the first major copyright act in the UK, albeit one very much concerned with book printing. The aforementioned Feargal Sharkey and best selling author Peter James will take part in the panel debate, which will be introduced by the boss of recording royalties society PPL, Fran Nevrkla.
In almost slightly related news, ie news stories tagged 'copyright' and 'PPL', the collecting society have announced they will host a reception in Brussels next week as the much previously discussed 'copyright term directive' reaches what they call "a critical stage in the political process". As previously reported, European political types are currently considering proposals to increase the recording copyright term from the current fifty years, possibly to as much as 95 years. It is thought the proposals will hit biggest hurdle when it gets to the EU Council Of Ministers, ie relevant reps from the governments of each member state.
The PPL reception will see a number of musicians meet with political types to further lobby for the extension. Dominic McGonigal, PPL's Director of Government Relations, who will speak at the event, says: "We are extremely grateful to the Parliament, the Presidency, the Council and the Commission who are addressing the unfairness in copyright term for performers and record companies. The musicians at our reception represent 38,000 from across Europe who have signed a petition asking the EU to take action".