British consumers demand fair play on copyright for British musicians
Almost two-thirds of British public support music industry bid to bring UK copyright protection in line with the US.
London, November 13 2006
New research shows a majority of British consumers support the record industry's battle for extended copyright protection for UK artists.
62 per cent of those polled agreed that UK artists should be protected for the same number of years as their American counterparts, by extending the term of copyright for sound recordings from its current 50 years to 95 years.
The YouGov poll, commissioned by the BPI, the British recording industry trade association, found only 20 per cent of respondents did not agree that copyright should be brought in line with the US, while 18 per cent were unsure.
The research - the first to canvass the views of the British public on this issue - provide an insight into consumers' attitudes as the British music industry awaits results of the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property, set to be published at the end of November.
The survey will add further weight to the growing campaign for a harmonisation of copyright term.
Early this week, MPs will receive a leaflet from the BPI highlighting five key reasons to harmonise the copyright term:
- to support the unique cultural asset of the UK music industry
- to drive re-investment in the creative economy
- to end the discrimination of protection afforded to other cultural industries
- to benefit consumers through increased availability of music at no extra cost
- to boost UK's international competitiveness in the global knowledge economy.
Peter Jamieson, chairman of the BPI, says:
"We are hugely encouraged that the majority of British consumers agree with us that UK musicians should receive as much copyright protection as their US counterparts."
"Our unique and internationally renowned industry would use a term extension to continue to invest heavily in the creative economy for future generations and consolidate the rights and works of our cultural ambassadors."
Notes to the editor:
BPI - Representing the British Recorded Music Industry
The BPI is the British record industry's trade association. It has represented the interests of British record companies since being formally incorporated in 1973. Its membership comprises of more than 400 companies including all four major record companies, associate members such as manufacturers and distributors plus hundreds of independent music companies representing literally thousands of labels which together account for over 90% of recorded music output in the UK.
Gowers Review:
In December last year, the Chancellor of the Exchequer asked Andrew Gowers, formerly the Editor of the Financial Times, to launch a review into the UK's intellectual property framework - deadline for submission of evidence was Friday 21 April 2006. The BPI, the UK record companies' trade association, submitted written and oral evidence.
YouGov poll:
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,034 British adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 2nd - 6th November 2006. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
This survey has been conducted using an online interview administered members of the YouGov Plc GB panel of 115,000+ individuals who have agreed to take part in surveys. An email was sent to panellists selected at random from the base sample according to the sample definition, inviting them to take part in the survey and providing a link to the survey.
YouGov plc make every effort to provide representative information. All results are based on a sample and are therefore subject to statistical errors normally associated with sample-based information.