[78-L] Copyright extension

[Kristjan Saag]

The Swedish Government has turned down a proposition from the EU (European 
Union) commission, to extend the copyright on recordings from 50 to 95 
years.
As 78 list members may remember the EU Commission in the beginning of this 
year asked member countries to respond individually to the proposition, 
originally put forward by the British record industry. Magnus Graner at the 
Justice Department in Sweden points to several reasons why the Government 
has decided to reject it:
1) It is badly written
2) The model proposed is too complicated. It would make it difficult for 
radio, televison and music archives to operate efficiently
3) The general public attitude is against more copyright - the Government 
finds it doesn't have public support for sharpening copyright laws in this 
case

The Swedish Competition Authority was one of the institutions to recommend 
the Government not to support the proposition, indicating that the present 
copyright term is long enough to secure proper competition.
Swedish Public Television also dissuaded from support, estimating that a 
prolongation of the copyright term would only benefit the four largest 
record companies.

Other member state governments will also respond to the proposition - if 
most countries are negative it will probably be taken off the agenda for a 
long time.
So there's still good reason for most European 78-list members to react and 
try to influense their respective political institutions.
Kristjan