MusicTank white paper challenges existing EU directive on private copy

MusicTank, the music-industry think tank attached to London’s University of Westminster, is delving into the European Union’s complex world of private copy levies for its next event on 25 June.

Called Private Copy Exemption: Rightsholders and Remuneration, the debate will be linked to a recently published white paper called Private Copying of Music: A New Model for Artist Compensation.

The author is Sam Rudy, a former Westminster University Master’s Degree student in Music Business Management.

His thesis, which is contributing to MusicTank’s Future Thinking series, “argues for an immediate EU-wide statutory introduction of an improved blank tape levy and proposes an evolution of the concept of private copying,” says MusicTank’s organisers in a statement.

Rudy’s analysis follows last October’s landmark move by the UK government to legalise the private copy of CDs and DVDs on to digital devices, such as smartphones and cyberlockers, for personal use. Consumers are now allowed to make legitimate copies of music and videos they have purchased after the British government ratified the Copyright and Rights in Performances (Personal Copies for Private Use) Regulations 2014.

Until then, this innocuous activity was illegal in the country, even though the related EU directive had been adopted and was lawful on continental Europe.

However, the European Parliament has expressed concern that the EU directive’s existing provisions might still restrict the remunerations artists are entitled to unless they are updated.

The MusicTank discussion around the white paper will address the issues that need to be considered about the way fans consume and share music today.

You can find more details about the event and the free white paper here.

[Juliana Koranteng]