Brussels - Italy's Eros Ramazzotti, Britain's Elton John and
Spain's Julio Iglesias will soon be able to have their copyright
money managed by any collecting agency in the European Union, thanks
to an EU antitrust decision adopted on Wednesday.
The move is intended to give authors a better deal and provide
listeners with more choice, officials in Brussels said.
Under existing rules, artists must become members of their
national collecting agencies, which in turn are not allowed to offer
their services to artists from other EU member states.
As well as limiting artists' choice, this state of affairs also
makes life difficult for radio stations, television and online music
providers wishing to sell or broadcast music across the EU, since
they must obtain licenses from single national agencies representing
the country's artists.
'This decision will benefit cultural diversity by encouraging
collecting societies to offer composers and lyricists a better deal
in terms of collecting the money to which they are entitled,' said
EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes.
'It will also facilitate the development of satellite, cable and
internet broadcasting, giving listeners more choice and giving
authors more potential revenue,' Kroes added.
Wednesday's decision was prompted by complaints from broadcasting
group RTL of Luxembourg and Music Choice, a British online music
provider. It follows a failure to resolve the case with national
collecting societies amicably.
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