Dinosaurs demand extension of Jurassic period
Anticipating policy-making trends in Britain is straightforward: whenever a really, really bad idea surfaces in the States, be assured that it will fly across the pond at warp speed.
Thus, as we predicted, the music tax mooted by Warner Music Group last month soon found dismal echo in the UK.
The Music Business Group (MBG), expressing ‘the collective view of the UK music industry’, wants to tax music players such as the iPod. ‘Unquestionably, there is a value produced by the ability to format shift,’ said the MBG on 8 April. ‘It is imperative that creators and performers should benefit directly from this value.’
Not to mention copyright holders, record labels, and shareholders.
The MBG cited a statement by EU Internal Market Commissioner, the ex-Fianna Fail Minister of Finance Charlie McCreevy, last February. ‘There can be no question of calling into doubt the entitlement of rights holders to compensation for private copying,’ said McCreevy.
A French EU initiative to force ISPs to disconnect illegal file sharers was narrowly defeated on 10 April.
‘The Government’s Creative Britain report rightly recognises the heroic contribution made by the creative industries to the prosperity of the UK, said MBG Chairman Stephen Navin, who is also the CEO of the Music Publishers Association. ‘Here is a clear opportunity to fortify our creativity. The UK music industry is united on this issue in calling for parity with our European counterparts.’
Well, we wouldn’t want to get out of step with them, would we?
