By Anna McLauchlin - 19th April 2004
Societies that collect copyright fees could be the target of new EU law, the European Commission announced on Monday.
Brussels will look at whether EU legislation could increase confidence in societies like the Performing Right Society in the UK or the Società Italiana degli Autori ed Editori in Italy.
"These societies collect copyright fees and distribute them and they don't always do it in a very transparent way," said an EU official.
Possibilities for future laws could include rules on the supervision of rights societies as well as a single EU copyright licence.
A common complaint among record companies for example is that they have to register for 15 different licences depending on the music they want to use.
"It is no longer possible not to address rights management at European level," Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein said on Monday.
The commission has launched a consultation to which interested parties can repond until June 21.
It can be accessed under the Further Reading link.
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