EU recording business hails double boost

Date: 15/02/01

By Peter Chapman

The EU's recording industry is celebrating a double boost after a US court dealt a hammer blow to Internet music-sharing service Napster and MEPs voted to prevent illegal copying of copyrighted works.

Yesterday's vote by the Parliament followed a ruling by the US Court of Appeals that Napster was infringing copyright laws by enabling millions of consumers to download music without artists' authorisation.

"This is an extremely timely judgement which highlights the importance of protecting the rights of content providers on the Internet," said Philippe Kern, secretary-general of the Independent Music Companies Association, whose members include UK label Mute, Sweden's Gazelle and France's Wagram.

However Kern believes the judgement will not signal the end of Napster, which last year struck a deal with German music giant Bertelsmann. He believes it will encourage the online service to start charging users, offering a slice of the revenue to artists, music publishers and record companies.

Kern said he was satisfied with yesterday's vote in Strasbourg, which he claimed would maintain the balance between the interests of rightholders and users achieved by member states when they voted on the issue last year.

However consumers were less happy with the vote. Machiel Van der Velde of European consumer lobby BEUC said it would lead to an unfair ban on private copying of music or video if there would be "a direct or indirect commercial effect".

"What if I want to record a TV programme because I want to see it for my work? This will limit even more what people want to do in their own home," he said.

Single market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein said the vote paved the way for a speedy adoption of the copyright code - possibly later this month.

The EU's recording industry is celebrating a double boost after a US court dealt a hammer blow to Internet music-sharing service Napster and MEPs voted to prevent illegal copying of copyrighted works.