EU offers its pop stars copyright "euro-vision"

Jul 16, 2008, 13:41 GMT

Brussels - Italy's Eros Ramazzotti, Britain's Elton John and Spain's Julio Iglesias will soon be able to have their copyright money managed by any collecting agency in the European Union, thanks to an EU antitrust decision adopted on Wednesday.

The move is intended to give authors a better deal and provide listeners with more choice, officials in Brussels said.

Under existing rules, artists must become members of their national collecting agencies, which in turn are not allowed to offer their services to artists from other EU member states.

As well as limiting artists' choice, this state of affairs also makes life difficult for radio stations, television and online music providers wishing to sell or broadcast music across the EU, since they must obtain licenses from single national agencies representing the country's artists.

'This decision will benefit cultural diversity by encouraging collecting societies to offer composers and lyricists a better deal in terms of collecting the money to which they are entitled,' said EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes.

'It will also facilitate the development of satellite, cable and internet broadcasting, giving listeners more choice and giving authors more potential revenue,' Kroes added.

Wednesday's decision was prompted by complaints from broadcasting group RTL of Luxembourg and Music Choice, a British online music provider. It follows a failure to resolve the case with national collecting societies amicably.