Brussels threatens sanctions against US over copyright 

Brussels is complaining that American law does not foresee the payment of a royalty fee for music broadcast in public places, such as bars, shops or restaurants. In Europe, these royalties are usually gathered by collecting societies such as SACEM in France, SABAM in Belgium or SIAE in Italy.

These companies also collect the royalties for US authors and redistribute revenues from public venues which broadcast music. Restaurants or shops usually pay a tax if they want to play music on public premises.

The US rules do not guarantee such protection for music authors. The issue has been raised on different occasions by Brussels in international fora in which trade matters are discussed, in particular the World Trade Organisation.

The lack of legal guarantees for authors breaches international agreements over the protection of copyright. After official complaints from the EU, Washington accepted to offer financial assistance to EU artists for the period between 2002 and 2004.

The arrangement expired at the end of 2004, and since then the US has not changed its relevant copyright rules (in particular the Copyright Act). Neither has it compensated EU authors with a new financial agreement.

"The EU has safeguarded its rights to suspend trade benefits granted to the US if the Copyright Act is not amended," reads a European Commission report published in July regarding trade barriers used by the US.

"Despite losing a WTO case on the issue, the US has not yet brought its Copyright Act into compliance with the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs)," adds the report.

The European music industry is also complaining about the lack of copyright protection for artists who perform in public, for example at informal live events rather than regular concerts.

Pressure from the music industry to have these rights recognised is growing in parallel with the increasing usage of digital music, which is often obtained illegally for free. Authors and producers complain that this is costing them enormous amounts in lost revenue, and it is endangering the whole industry (see EurActiv Links Dossier).