Discord on golden oldies' earning power, London Guardian, 12/21/08

Via London Guardian: Discord on golden oldies' earning power, Extending copyright on recordings would swell the labels' coffers, but the lure of selling old tunes may eclipse new signings:

"Record labels spend a huge amount of time and money searching for the artists of the future - but their profits are underpinned by the pop stars of the past. Back catalogues are big business for the major music groups, generating cash that can be ploughed into "A&R" ("artists and repertoire") - the inexact science of discovering and promoting tomorrow's big acts...

But all that could change if copyright on music recordings is not extended from 50 to 95 years, as the major music labels would like, and as the European Commission has recently proposed. Without the extension, early Beatles recordings such as Love Me Do will lose copyright protection from 2012, after which anyone would be free to use these versions of the songs free of charge. The implications for those who made the recordings are obvious.

In the UK, an artist earns a royalty every time their version of a song is sold or played publicly - a copyright that is valid for 50 years and generally administered through the artist's label. But there is also a separate copyright for the songwriter, currently valid for 70 years from the date of his or her death - the same rules that apply to authors outside the music industry. Those rights are generally held by music publishers, which exist both as standalone companies and as divisions within record labels. The music industry has been lobbying for several years to extend the copyright on performances and recordings so they are on equal terms with songwriting and other forms of copyright...

But not everyone agrees that a copyright extension would lead to more investment in new music, and some fear that it would encourage record labels to become more like music publishers and put yet more emphasis on their library."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/21/beatles-copyright-royalties-extension-mccartney