Record companies demand greater protection

Date: 09/01/1997

THE European Commission faces increased pressure from record companies to boost protection for their products after they failed to win all they wanted from an international conference on copyright.

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) conference in Geneva, described as the most important copyright forum for 30 years, left big media and entertainment companies still hungry for more legal safeguards to protect their products in the new age of digital transmission on information highways.

With the Commission set to produce a raft of proposals on harmonising copyright rules for the information society in the first half of this year, so-called content providers such as record companies are looking to Brussels to fill in some of the gaps.

However, the conference uncovered divisions between EU countries which put in doubt the Commission's ability to meet these demands. Scandinavian countries in particular were reluctant to back new laws which would tip the balance of legal protection in favour of those who own copyright material as opposed to those who want to use it.

“They are traditionally more in favour of consumer protection and giving broader access to works,” said one record industry observer at the conference.

The Commission itself was broadly supportive of the conference trend towards spelling out and tightening the rules for copyright protection in the information society.

The WIPO conference concluded at the end of December with two landmark treaties signed and a third, giving special rights to makers of databases, deferred for further talks this year.

The two successes give authors of written material full rights to control the broadcasting of their works and afford film and record companies exclusive copyright protection for on-demand subscriber services. They also give record companies the right to make minor alterations to artists' work without consulting them. The treaties must now be ratified by the countries taking part.

The record industry estimates online music services, such as chart hits and videos or transmission of concerts on demand, could account for around 15&percent; of their European sales within the next five years.

It argues that the WIPO treaties are a step in the right direction, but says the Union could go further to clarify and improve protection for online services.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) says the world-wide recording industry, worth around 40 billion ecu a year, needs more certainty if it is to make key investments.

In particular, the industry would like exclusive copyright extended to cover multi-channel services and not just pay-per-view or -listen, arguing that a choice of tens of different channels almost equates to an on-demand service and should be afforded similar protection.

It would also like the fraught issue of reproduction rights for copyright material tidied up, after the WIPO conference failed to reach any conclusions or even define reproduction.

That definition is far from academic. Telecom companies have been warning that they could face prosecution if copyright laws on reproduction are tightened since material is technically copied during the process of transmission. Computers also often copy material even if it is only destined for transmission.

The record industry says all such copies could provide the basis for bootleg, pirate versions. However, network and Internet site operators have fiercely opposed any such move to tighten regulations, saying it would jeopardise their operations.