COPYRIGHT : COMMISSIONER SEEKS BETTER PROTECTION FOR PERFORMING ARTISTS.

The term of copyright protection for European performing artists should be increased from 50 to 95 years. A proposal to that effect will be drawn up by the services of Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, for adoption by the European Commission before summer 2008.

Speaking at a press conference on 14 February in Brussels, McCreevy said the initiative is needed to ensure a retirement for performers. "I am not talking about featured artists like Cliff Richard or Charles Aznavour. I am talking about the thousands of anonymous session musicians who contributed to sound recordings in the late 1950s and 1960s. They will no longer get airplay royalties from their recordings, but these royalties are often their sole pension," he explained.

Many studio musicians who are not members of a band start performing when they are 17. That means that when the current 50-year...