Songwriters from across Europe and North America have come together to protest the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) refusal to recognise their moral rights.
In a strongly worded open letter, the alliance, which includes the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA), criticised the RIAA’s position on this issue, and its recent comments to the US Copyright Office.
The dispute has arisen over the RIAA’s reluctance to properly recognise the Berne Convention legislative framework, which was first ratified in 1928.
The convention outlines basic rights for songwriters and composers including ‘attribution’, or the right to be recognised as the author of a work.
A total of 172 countries - including the US - are signed up to the Berne Convention, but the US does not recognise these rights in practice.
The US Copyright Office recently launched an investigation into the situation – with a view of correcting it - to which the RIAA responded: ‘After fifteen years of declining revenues, the recorded music industry outlook is finally showing signs of improvement.
‘This fragile recovery results largely from growing consumer adoption of new streaming models, made possible by the industry’s substantial investment in the requisite systems and infrastructure supporting the efficient and widespread creation of business partnerships between digital music services and record labels that, in turn, has fostered the growth of existing streaming services and the launch of new ones.
‘We urge the Office to avoid legislative proposals that could hamper this nascent recovery by injecting significant additional risk, uncertainty and complexity into the recorded music business.’
This response has prompted the penning of the open letter, signed by songwriters and composers across America, Canada and Europe, including 11 organisations that represent thousands of writers.
In addition to BASCA, signatories include the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance (ECSA), Music Creators of North America (MCNA), Songwriters Guild of America (SGA) and Songwriters of North America (SONA).
Read their open letter.
In a strongly worded open letter, the alliance, which includes the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA), criticised the RIAA’s position on this issue, and its recent comments to the US Copyright Office.
The dispute has arisen over the RIAA’s reluctance to properly recognise the Berne Convention legislative framework, which was first ratified in 1928.
The convention outlines basic rights for songwriters and composers including ‘attribution’, or the right to be recognised as the author of a work.
A total of 172 countries - including the US - are signed up to the Berne Convention, but the US does not recognise these rights in practice.
The US Copyright Office recently launched an investigation into the situation – with a view of correcting it - to which the RIAA responded: ‘After fifteen years of declining revenues, the recorded music industry outlook is finally showing signs of improvement.
‘This fragile recovery results largely from growing consumer adoption of new streaming models, made possible by the industry’s substantial investment in the requisite systems and infrastructure supporting the efficient and widespread creation of business partnerships between digital music services and record labels that, in turn, has fostered the growth of existing streaming services and the launch of new ones.
‘We urge the Office to avoid legislative proposals that could hamper this nascent recovery by injecting significant additional risk, uncertainty and complexity into the recorded music business.’
This response has prompted the penning of the open letter, signed by songwriters and composers across America, Canada and Europe, including 11 organisations that represent thousands of writers.
In addition to BASCA, signatories include the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance (ECSA), Music Creators of North America (MCNA), Songwriters Guild of America (SGA) and Songwriters of North America (SONA).
Read their open letter.
