[A2k] David Stopps for IMMF at SCCR 18 may 27, 2009

[Manon Ress]

Intervention at the WIPO SCCR18  held in Geneva by David Stopps on
behalf of The International Music Managers Forum on Wednesday 27th
May  2009 regarding possible international harmonisation of
Limitations and Exceptions.

I would first like to congratulate the Chair and Vice-Chairs on their
re-election.  For those of you who don=92t know who we are, I am
speaking to you today on behalf of the IMMF, the International Music
Managers Forum. We represent the interests of featured artists, both
authors and performers. These are the artists that you hear on the
radio or see on your televisions such as Taylor Swift, Green Day or
Def Leppard, but we also represent featured artists that are just
starting out that you might see at your local pub or club. Featured
artists are the source of over 95% of the income generated in the
global music industry.

Mr Chairman, we live in exponentially changing times. The internet has
provided a rate of change never seen before, a rate of change that
will continue to increase. The landscape for copyright and related
rights will never settle down again. We are in for ever increasing
challenges so lets strap ourselves in and prepare for the ride.

Whilst the concept of copyright has never been more important for the
development of culture and the health of the creative industries, we
cannot continue with 20th Century analogue rules. At present it is
estimated that over 95% of all music downloads are unauthorised and
illegal. Mr Chairman that amounts to nothing less than market failure.
In order to bring us back from this position we need radical solutions.

Rather than introducing more and more controls which are clearly
ineffective, we need to monetise the anarchy. We need to move from
exclusive rights to rights of remuneration, or to exclusive rights
that behave like remuneration rights. We need to provide greater and
simpler access to music for the consumer and we need to bring the ISPs
and Mobile Service Providers in to the value chain.

Whatever we do, a global perspective has never been more important.
Because the internet is in itself a global phenomenen it is surely
essential that we need as much global harmonisation as possible. The
rules for copyright and related rights need to be simplified so that
permissions are easily obtainable at reasonable rates. The era of high
levels of control has to be over. We need to replace control with
monetisation for the benefit of all stakeholders.

In regard to limitations and exceptions we need to incorporate the
wonderfully conceived Berne Three Step test but we also need to
provide certain universal minima. Whilst a user might be clear that a
certain activity is lawful under the limitations and exceptions
provisions of their own country, they may well be completely illegal
in a neighbouring country. How can a user be expected to research such
provisions in perhaps 200 countries? It is totally impractical and the
net result is that they may just go ahead and use the content anyway,
often illegally.

Mr Chairman, we fully support the introduction of a treaty for the
visually impaired and we support any sensible suggestions for
international harmonisation and universal minima for limitations and
exceptions.


The International Music Manager=92s Forum represents featured artist
music managers and through them the featured artists (performers and
creators) themselves. These featured artists are those that are the
source of over 95% of the economic activity in the global music
industry. Featured artist music managers are uniquely placed to
comment on music industry issues, as they are the only group of
professionals that deal with every aspect of the music industry and
the copyright system as it applies to music on a daily basis. Music
managers are responsible for every aspect of the artist=92s career
including interfacing and negotiating with phonogram producers, music
publishers, making arrangements for touring, sponsorship,
merchandising, and ensuring that all the available income streams,
including those from collection societies, are properly managed.
Managers are generally remunerated on a commission basis (usually in
the region of 20% of income actually received by the artist) so income
streams affecting the artist also directly affect those of the
manager. The International Music Managers Forum comprises 18 Music
Managers Forums around the world including Australia, Belgium, Canada,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands,
New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, United Kingdom and
United States.




***************************************************************************
Manon Ress
manon.ress@keionline.org
Knowledge Ecology International
1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA
Tel.:  +1.202.332.2670, Fax: +1.202.332.2673