Brussels, 07/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - The main obstacle to the legal exploitation of musical works on the Internet in the European Union lies in managing copyright, which means that applicants have to carry out time-consuming and complicated copyright requests in each of the 25 Member States. It is also a very costly business, as shown by the results of a detailed European Commission study recently published on how copyright for musical works is licensed for use on the Internet.
The Commission hopes to reform the system via the establishment of a single copyright system, valid throughout the 25 national territories. “The absence of pan-European copyright licenses makes it difficult for new European-based online services to take off”, Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, responsible for the internal market and services, commented. In its study, the Commission notes that the on-line music market does not generate much revenue in the European Union despite considerable potential, compared to the United States (EUR 27.2 million in revenue in 2004 for the EU compared to EUR 207 million for the other side of the Atlantic). According to the Commission's calculations, the total cost of the various national licenses needed for general coverage of Community territory would currently amount to EUR 475,000. If one considers the average income generated by down-loading a song (0.10 cents), 4.75 million downloadings would be needed to cover costs. Such a situation is untenable, Tilman Lueder, from DG Internal Market, states. Although the problem of piracy is real enough and must be taken in hand, it is not the heart of the problem, Mr Lueder continued, giving the example of the substantial profits made in the United States where unlawful downloading is rife. The Commission suggests other solutions with a view to remedying the situation given that the musical field is the only one that can give real impetus to on-line content services in Europe, in line with the Lisbon Agenda. In addition to the need to establish a single system, the Commission hopes to authorise right holders (singers, speakers, composers, producers) to call for a single collective rights management company responsible for managing their works throughout the European Union. The result would be a competitive environment for the crossborder management of copyright and considerable improvement in potential income for right holders, the Commission says. These companies would be encouraged to provide the very best services for right holders, wherever they are located, thus improving the payment of fees over and beyond the borders. The Commission has set out the following timetable for procedure: consultation of interested third parties during two months (July-August), and the study of information gathered in September for a proposal that it plans to submit in October. The study may be consulted on-line at: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/copyright/index_en.htm.