|
The European Parliament adopted by 377 votes to 178 with
37 abstentions, a legislative resolution amending, under the first reading of
codecision procedure, the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament
and of the Council amending Directive 2006/116/EC of the European Parliament and
of the Council on the term of protection of copyright and related rights. The
text states that the term of protection for fixations of performances and for
phonograms should be extended to 70 years, rather than 95 years as the
Commission had proposed. The main amendments are as follows: Term of protection: the term of protection of a musical composition with
words shall expire 70 years after the death of the last of the following
persons to survive, whether or not these persons are designated as co-authors:
the author of the lyrics and the composer of the musical composition,
provided that both contributions were specifically created for the respective
musical composition with words. However, protection for musical recordings
will expire after 70 years. Assigned rights: if, 50 years after the phonogram was lawfully
published, or failing such publication, 50 years after it was lawfully
communicated to the public, the phonogram producer does not offer copies of
the phonogram for sale in sufficient quantity or does not make it available
to the public in such a way that members of the public may access it from a
place and at a time individually chosen by them, the performer may terminate
the contract whereby he has transferred or assigned his rights in the fixation
of his performance to a phonogram producer ("contract on transfer or
assignment"). The right to terminate the contract may be exercised if
the producer, within a year from the notification by the performer of his
intention to terminate the contract, does not carry out both acts of
exploitation described above. This right to terminate may not be waived by
the performer. Where a phonogram contains the fixation of the performances of
several performers, they may terminate their contracts on transfer or assignment
in accordance with the applicable national law. If the contract on transfer
or assignment is terminated, the rights of the phonogram producer in the
phonogram shall expire. Annual supplementary remuneration: Parliament provided extended rights for
session musicians. It pointed out that some performers are paid an advance on
royalties and enjoy payments only once the phonogram producer has recouped
the initial advance and made any contractually defined deductions. Other
performers transfer or assign their exclusive rights against a one-off
payment (non-recurring remuneration). This is particularly the case for
performers who play in the background and do not appear in the credits
("non-featured performers") but sometimes also for performers who
appear in the credits ("featured performers").Producers will be
under an obligation to set aside, at least once a year, a sum corresponding
to 20 % of the revenues from the exclusive rights of distribution,
reproduction and making available of phonograms. "Revenues" means
the revenues derived by the phonogram producer before deducting costs.
Phonogram producers must be required to provide to performers, who are
entitled to the annual supplementary remuneration, on request, any
information which may be necessary in order to secure the payment of that
remuneration. Clean slate:
where performers transfer their exclusive rights, on a royalty basis, to a
phonogram producer, there should be a 'clean slate' for those performers who
have assigned their exclusive rights to phonogram producers in return for
royalties or remuneration. In order for performers to benefit fully from the
extended term of protection, Member States should ensure that, under
agreements between phonogram producers and performers, a royalty or remuneration
rate unencumbered by advance payments or contractually defined deductions is
paid to performers during the extended period. Derogation:
Parliament deleted the derogation for producers with less than EUR 2 million
annual revenue. Collecting societies: the right to obtain an annual supplementary
remuneration must be administered by collecting societies. Transfer or assignment: Member States may provide that contracts on transfer or
assignment whereby a performer is entitled to recurring payments and concluded
before a certain date can be modified after 50 years. Report:
the Commission shall submit in 3 years a report on the application of the
Directive in the light of the development of the digital market and, where
appropriate, submit a proposal to further amend Directive 2006/116/EC. Assessment on the audiovisual sector: the Commission shall carry out an assessment
of the possible need for an extension of the term of protection of rights to
performers and producers in the audiovisual sector and report not later than
1 January 2010. If appropriate, the Commission shall submit a proposal to
amend Directive 2006/116/EC.
|
