[Dixielandjazz] European Music Licensing

[Norman Vickers]

This article from Associated Press, May 3, 2004 forwarded for info and
comment.

Norman Vickers

Europe Worried About Music Licensing Systems
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
4.5.3
Filed at 11:26 a.m. ET

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- The European Union launched a
probe Monday into 16 national organizations that collect
royalties for composers and songwriters, charging that
their system for licensing music is hampering the rollout
of Internet downloading services across Europe.

Record companies in Europe say they are willing to license
downloads on a pan-European basis, but the
royalty-collecting societies insist on licensing music
authors' work country by country, the way they do for
concerts, radio and compact discs.

In its statement of objections, the EU's trustbuster said a
preliminary assessment found the royalties societies'
cross-licensing arrangements are extending the
organizations' monopolies onto the Internet.

Such exclusivity, the European Commission said, ``is not
justified by technical reasons and is irreconcilable with
the worldwide reach of the Internet. The commission added
that the situation is ``to the ultimate detriment of
consumers.''

The commission wants collecting societies to compete with
one another in offering pan-European licenses, which would
let Internet services sell music downloads anywhere in the
25-nation bloc and could lead to big commercial song
services like those that have emerged in the United States.

The licensing societies were given 10 weeks to respond and
will be allowed to defend themselves at a hearing. There
are no deadlines for investigations in such cases, which
can take years.

If the EU rejects the groups' licensing system, they would
be vulnerable to lawsuits.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-EU-Online-Music.html