It now goes to the Council of Ministers, where it can still be rejected. Given the reported opposition by at least 11 countries (including Afterdawn's home country of Finland), voted against the proposed directive.
The extension goes against the conclusions of multiple studies which have been done on the effects of copyright term extension. Those studies overwhelmingly indicate term extension will have a neglible impact on the lives of the performers it purports to help.
On the other hand, they indicate a significant profit fot record labels, who continue to enjoy exclusive rights over decades old recordings.
If this directive is approved the next target is copyright terms for audiovisual works.
Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 23 Apr 2009 11:56