Local copyright remedies 'inappropriate' for transfrontier licensing

In the face of efforts by media conglomerates and telecommunications companies to obtain transfrontier online licences of copyrighted music at the cheapest price, the Performing Rights Society (PRS) of the UK and the Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) believe that local remedies "aren't appropriate in this situation".

Replying to questions by The Sunday Times, they said: "The issue requires a pan-European solution involving adapting the infrastructure of rights management from a territorially based system to a multi-territorial one.

"The idea is to make online licensing and collecting as easy as possible for music users. This is what we are developing."

The societies that collectively represent the copyright owners are currently engaged in developing a pan-European solution that meets the policy objectives of the European Commission but with two DGs currently issuing seemingly conflicting messages.

DG Internal Market has issued a Recommendation designed to give copyright owners a choice over who manages their online music rights and to set standards governing the collective cross-border management of those rights.

Meanwhile, DG Competition issued a Statement of Objections against the societies following complaints from the media conglomerates and telecommunications companies related to the manner in which certain Internet, satellite broadcast and cable retransmission rights were licensed to users.

"The European Commission was concerned that the current system, whereby societies are restricted to licensing rights for their own territory, might be anti-competitive in the context of the online world where there are no geographical boundaries and where services are being increasingly offered across many countries on the internet," PRS told The Sunday Times.

"Such services need licences spanning several territories. PRS, along with 18 other European societies, has signed up to Commitments which meet these concerns and are designed to promote multi-territorial licensing."

Asked whether the media and telecommunications companies posed a threat to this, the PRS said: "The media and telcos who are complaining are naturally interested in keeping their costs down and this means being able to shop around and being able to obtain their multi-territorial licence from the society able to offer the best price (a one-stop shop).

"CISAC openly pointed this out on July 19. Any system that facilitates this 'race to the bottom' on price would be very bad news for songwriters, composers and publishers everywhere in Europe."

According to both the PRS and CISAC, "the terms of the reciprocal agreements are not anti-competitive and this is made plain in the text of the Commitments".

Nor would a one-stop shop work on a local level. "This cannot be looked at as a local issue because users need licences in the online world for many territories and not just the local territory. The offline world is very different in this regard and can and will continue as before for the time being.

"A one-stop shop available in each territory is effectively an invitation to users to shop around for the cheapest licence at the expense of the creators and neither we nor the Commission believe this is acceptable."

In its statement on July 19, CISAC intervened in the public debate about the Commitments recently offered to DG Competition to clarify the different issues between the Recommendation and the Statement of Objections. It concluded the statement by saying:

"CISAC continues to maintain that the Commitments represent a genuine multi-repertoire, multi-territory licensing model which responds to the concerns expressed by DG Competition. The Commitments have been created with due regard to a fast-moving entertainment world but with safeguards in place to prevent a downward spiral in tariffs.

"On behalf of its members, CISAC reaffirms its support for the Commitments and looks forward to working with DG Competition on their implementation."