Artists, musicians, performers, publishers and producers welcome EU decision on copyright term extension

Brussels, 12th September 2011

Today, the EU Council of Ministers adopted the Commission and European Parliament Directive to extend the term of protection for sound recordings in the EU from 50 to 70 years. This ensures that the sound recordings will be protected for at least the life of the artist, will generate new revenues for music performers and will help publishers and producers to continue to compete globally.

AEPO-ARTIS, FIM, GIART, ICMP, IFPI and IMPALA, which represent all the facets of the music sector in Europe, warmly welcome this decision by EU Member States and applaud the Polish Presidency and supporting Member States for their commitment to this initiative. We also thank the European Commission and European Parliament for their vision and support.

Over 38,000 artists and musicians signed a petition in favour of term extension, acknowledging the positive impact it will have on the sector. The proposal narrows the copyright protection gap with other sectors and regions of the world and strengthens Europe's ability to compete internationally

Term extension highlights the important role of artists, musicians, performers, publishers and producers, and will also provide additional funding to be re-invested in new talent.

For more information, please contact:

AEPO-ARTIS (www.aepo-artis.org) +32 (0)2 280 1934
AEPO-ARTIS represents 28 European performers' collective management societies in both the audio and audiovisual sectors from 22 countries in Europe.

In most countries performers' rights are collectively managed for both performers who are members and those who are not members of the collecting societies. Thus globally, the number of performers represented by the 28 member organisations of AEPO-ARTIS can be estimated between 400,000 and 500,000.

FIM (www.fim-musicians.com) +33 14526 3123
The International Federation of Musicians, founded in 1948, is the international organisation for musicians' unions, guilds and professional associations and is now counting about 65 members in 57 countries throughout the world.

The Federation's main objective is to protect and further the economic, social and artistic interests of musicians represented by its member unions.

GIART (www.giart.org) +32 (0) 476 208 112
GIART was created in 2003 by Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Portuguese collective management societies of performing artists rights to guarantee the protection of performers' rights by European and international legislations.

One of GIART's main objectives is the efficient and effective administration of individual performers' rights and the signature and implementation of reciprocal representation agreements between its members.

ICMP (www.icmp-ciem.org) +32 (0)2 791 7568
ICMP is the world trade association representing the interests of the music publishing community internationally. The constituent members of ICMP are music publishers' associations from Europe, the Middle East, North and South America, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Included are the leading independent international, regional and national music publishers, mainly SMEs, throughout the world, as well as the four multinational music publishing companies.

IFPI (www.ifpi.org) +44 20 7878 7935/ +32 (0)2 511 9208
IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) represents the recording industry worldwide with some 1400 members in 65 countries and affiliated industry associations in 45 countries.

IMPALA (www.impalamusic.org) +32 (0)2 503 31 38
IMPALA was established in 2000 at the initiative of prominent independent labels and national trade associations. IMPALA's mission is to grow the independent music sector, promote cultural diversity and cultural entrepreneurship, and modernise the perception of the music industry.

IMPALA has over 4,000 members including top independents and national associations across Europe.