[Upd-discuss] Re: FW: short introduction to my position paper on term extension

[Andrius Kulikauskas]

Stef, Wonderful, Thank you, and See you soon! Andrius

Gompel, S.J. van wrote:
>
> Dear Andrius,
>
> Here is my short position paper on term extension. It turned out to be 
> two pages instead of one. I hope that's alright. Unfortunately, I am 
> not in the position to release my work into the public domain, as I 
> have made use of copyright protected content of which I do not own all 
> the rights myself. But of course you can publish the paper on the 
> website of the workshop. See you in a few days!
>
> Best wishes,
> Stef
>
> <<Stef van Gompel term extension.pdf>>
> -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
> *Van: * Gompel, S.J. van
> *Verzonden: * dinsdag 11 maart 2008 12:30
> *Aan: * 'ms@ms.lt'
> *Onderwerp: * short introduction to my position paper on term extension
>
> Dear Andrius,
>
> I am sorry for my late reply, but I was really busy last week. Anyway, 
> here is a short introduction to the argument which I want to present 
> in my position paper on term extension. You asked me who I would like 
> to call to account (i.e. who I would like you to invite to show up or 
> to present a defense). Well, someone from the European Commission 
> would of course be wonderful. But since there is not yet a concrete 
> proposal, I am not sure whether they will come to debate it. 
> Otherwise, it is also possible to ask someone from the music industry, 
> or a performers' organisation, if they would like to make a 
> counterargument.
>
> Best wishes,
> Stef
>
>
> Position paper: Communia workshop, Vilnius, 31 March 2008
>
> *Extending the term of protection for related rights endangers a 
> valuable public domain*
>
> /Stef van Gompel/
>
> Recently, the European Commission announced its intention to bring 
> forward a proposal to extend the term of protection for related rights 
> in phonograms (sound recordings) from 50 years to 95 years. This would 
> form a serious threat to a valuable public domain. Delaying the moment 
> from which phonograms are released into the public domain means 
> delaying the moment from which anyone can freely use these materials, 
> e.g. for studies, work or leisure or as raw materials for new creative 
> efforts. This may create considerable costs for competition and 
> innovation, for consumers, and for the public at large. As a result, 
> the balance between protecting the rights of performers and producers 
> (i.e. the beneficiaries of related rights in phonograms) and 
> safeguarding the interests of the public domain may be seriously 
> disrupted.
>
> For a term extension to be legitimate, therefore, there should be 
> sound legal and economic reasons. Yet, two recently conducted studies, 
> one commissioned by the UK Gowers Review, the other by the European 
> Commission, convincingly concluded that an extension of the term of 
> protection for related rights in phonograms is not advisable. The 
> present author, who is co-author of the second study, will shortly 
> discuss why a term extension would be ill-advised.
>
> [...]
>
> *Sources:*
>
> “Performing artists - no longer be the ‘poor cousins’ of the music 
> business” - Charlie McCreevy, IP/08/240, Brussels, 14 February 2008, 
> <http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/240&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en 
> <http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/240&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en>>.
>
> Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law (CIPIL), 
> University of Cambridge, ‘Review of the Economic Evidence Relating to 
> an Extension of Copyright in Sound Recordings’, 
> <http://www.cipil.law.cam.ac.uk/policy_documents/>.
>
> Institute for Information Law, ‘The Recasting of Copyright & Related 
> Rights for the Knowledge Economy’, report to the European Commission, 
> DG Internal Market, November 2006, 
> <http://www.ivir.nl/publications/other/IViR_Recast_Final_Report_2006.pdf>, 
> p. 83-137 (Chapter 3: Extending the term of protection for related 
> (neighbouring) rights).
>