International Issues….
in cra-briefings40 · June 30, 2007
LENGTHIER SENTENCES FOR PIRACY
Music Week has reported that Members of the European Parliament will examine implementing tighter criminal penalties against organized music piracy. Currently the stiffest penalties for are to be found in Britain, which provides a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. In other EU countries maximum penalties for similar crimes may be only one or two years. The general view is that the European Parliament will recommend raising these lower sentences. www.musicweek.com
Further evidence that the European Union is taking intellectual property issues seriously is seen in the terms and conditions the Union has imposed on Bulgaria and Romania who will be admitted for membership effective January 1, 2007. Both countries face a number of strict requirements including upgrading their protection for intellectual property and reducing traffic in pirated goods across their boarders. For more information on the criteria for admission see www.billboard.biz
PUBLISHERS TO LAUNCH AUTOMATED PERMISSION SYSTEM
In an initiative spearheaded by the World Newspaper Association, a group of organizations including the European Publishers Council have banded together to launch an online permissions and rights clearance system. The system would implement a standard way of codifying permission. It is proposed that this permissions system would allow the end user to display material for a limited time or purchase a copy of the material for use upon paying a predetermined royalty. For more information on this initiative see www.wan-press.org
PIRATE PARTY FAILS TO MAKE ELECTION IN-ROADS
Sweden’s Pirate Party, supporters of P2P sharing and the creation of an online darknet, failed to make substantial inroads in Sweden’s recent national elections. Items on the party’s platform included a five-year limitation on commercial copyright, and called for the abolition of the patent system. The party failed to get 1% of the vote which would have given them access to government financial assistance in printing ballots and funding staff in the next national election. According to party leader Rick Falkvinge the party obtained approximately 33,000 votes. More information on the Pirate Party’s election experience can be found at www.wired.com
EUROPEAN UNION PLAN FOR INNOVATION
The European Union has tabled a ten-point plan for fostering innovation in the European Community. The plan, which will be discussed at an informal summit of European Union leaders in Lahti Finland on October 20th, includes several items related to copyright. Item #7 calls for increased protection of intellectual property rights, and Item #8 calls for promoting digital products and services and an initiative on copyright levies. More information on this proposal can be found at www.eurpoa.org Europa Newsletter #89.
COLLECTIVE LICENSING DEVELOPING IN CHINA
China’s National Copyright Administration recently announced that China’s Karaoke clubs would be required to pay a fee of $1.50 US per room per day in music and video copyright fees. This fee was based on a request filed by the Music Copyright Society of China and the China Audio-Video Collective Management Association. After reviewing public commentary and criticism, the government has now implemented the fee. This fee structure is complemented by a database of approved karaoke recordings that has been established by the Chinese Ministry of Culture. This system will allow karaoke operations to monitor the titles and frequency of tracks selected by users. The system will charge a fee of 12 Yuan per song as royalties to record companies and musicians. It is thought that this database will enable copyright holders to realize approximately eight million Yuan annually in royalties. For more information on these developments see CISAC Headlines issue 123. For more information see: www.cisac.org and www.china.org.ca.