The great and the good of Europe's music industry this week met with the Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is also currently EU president, to discuss the ongoing problems of music piracy - lobbying the political chief for more support in combating piracy, in persuading internet service providers to take on more responsibility in that domain, and to help control the "epidemic" of CD-R copying. Also on the agenda was what the German government could do to persuade the Czech government to better control the prolific bootleg CD community there, whose pirated CDs slip across the border into Germany, and what the EU can do to push better intellectual property controls and better access to market in China.
Among the music types in attendance were Universal Music International's Lucian Grainge, EMI Music International's Jean-Francois Cecillon, Warner Music International's Patrick Vien and SonyBMG top bloke and German native Rolf Schmidt-Holtz.
The specifics of the meeting are being kept confidential, but Billboard quote a 'source close to the Chancellor' as saying Merkel does consider protecting creative rights to be a priority, and that it is something she intends to raise at the next G8 summit in June.
Also at the meeting was the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry boss John Kennedy, who said: "We left the meeting appreciative of the fact that the Chancellor understood the nature of the problems we are facing and is willing to play a role in seeking a solution to them. If the German government acts now, we are confident that the German music industry could reverse the decline and be viable again in three to five years."