Six prominent songwriters and composers have met with EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy to discuss his recent calls for an overhaul of royalty collections in Europe.
As previously reported, EU officials want royalty collection societies, like our own loveable MCPS-PRS, to adopt a more pan-European approach that makes it easier for companies like iTunes and Napster who need to licence music in multiple European territories. The royalty collection societies have also been accused of operating a virtual monopoly by holding on to all the strings relating to publishing royalties in their respective territories.
But the six songwriting types who met McCreevy yesterday said that the EU was being overly harsh on the collection societies, adding that some of the EU's proposals would, in their opinion, be damaging for the creative community at large.
Commenting on his discussions with the EU commissioner, Danish songwriter, composer, singer and musician Pia Raug told reporters: "For the very first time authors of music were given a chance to address the European Commission with issues that primarily affect them and to present the case for the protection of authors' rights in the online environment. Disrupting the efficient authors' rights system that has cultivated the richness and diversity of European culture for 200 years in the digital environment would have devastating economical, political and cultural consequences".
Dutch composer and Professor of Music History Konrad Boehmer added: "Authors' societies do not infringe European competition law as the European Commission has suggested. The network of authors' societies, based on reciprocal representation agreements, enables all users without discrimination to have equal access to the world repertoire. When producers, publishers, broadcasters, telecom operators, to name just a few, are being integrated and controlled by major multinational groups, one has to wonder who the real monopolies are."
Representing us Brits, David Ferguson, composer and chairman of the Creators' Rights Alliance and the British Academy Of Composers And Songwriters, added: "In these days of an increasingly powerful music industry, authors' societies represent creators' unique collective bargaining power for securing a fair remuneration for the use of their works anywhere in the world. At the bottom of the value chain, creators are even more vulnerable in the digital age. Authors' societies remain the only safeguard for protecting our rights and accessing the marketplace."
Whether a middle ground can be found on all this remains to be seen, though McCreevy recognised the importance of taking on board the opinions of songwriters and composers in this whole debate, and said "the Commission is committed to continuing a democratic dialogue giving equal opportunities to all players".