UK Music is urging British MEPs to protect music-makers and the wider industry by backing crucial changes to copyright law.
The organisation's chief executive Michael Dugher (pictured) is calling on them to back the proposed Copyright Directive following its approval by the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee yesterday.
One of the key elements of the draft directive is Article 13, which creates a new legal framework to ensure that large online services pay creators and respect the content they use.
It was passed with a majority of 15 to 10 and will now go to an open vote at the European Parliament in early July.
Dugher said in a statement: ‘Companies like YouTube pay only a fraction of the royalties of other music services. Not only does this badly distort the development of the digital economy, but it also fundamentally denies music creators, and those that invest in them, fair financial rewards.
‘Google’s YouTube have made a fortune from music content that has been created by others. This is one of the great scandals of the internet age and it has to stop now.
‘UK MEPs must now seize this opportunity to put this right. They should do the decent thing. We need to address the transfer of value and close the value gap once and for all.’
The UK music industry, including PRS for Music, has long campaigned to address the transfer of value issue, which has resulted in some digital platforms offering music without being fully licensed for the use of content, depriving creators and investors of music of revenue.
The organisation's chief executive Michael Dugher (pictured) is calling on them to back the proposed Copyright Directive following its approval by the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee yesterday.
One of the key elements of the draft directive is Article 13, which creates a new legal framework to ensure that large online services pay creators and respect the content they use.
It was passed with a majority of 15 to 10 and will now go to an open vote at the European Parliament in early July.
Dugher said in a statement: ‘Companies like YouTube pay only a fraction of the royalties of other music services. Not only does this badly distort the development of the digital economy, but it also fundamentally denies music creators, and those that invest in them, fair financial rewards.
‘Google’s YouTube have made a fortune from music content that has been created by others. This is one of the great scandals of the internet age and it has to stop now.
‘UK MEPs must now seize this opportunity to put this right. They should do the decent thing. We need to address the transfer of value and close the value gap once and for all.’
The UK music industry, including PRS for Music, has long campaigned to address the transfer of value issue, which has resulted in some digital platforms offering music without being fully licensed for the use of content, depriving creators and investors of music of revenue.
