A British parliamentary committee has recommended substantial changes to the country’s copyright laws that could have a significant impact on the music industry.
the UK Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) committee – the group that had previously made headlines with its investigations into music streaming remuneration – issued a report on Wednesday (April 10) calling for a number of new policies, aimed at ensuring better compensation for people working in creative industries.
One recommendation sure to get the attention of the music industry is a change to the split in streaming royalties between recorded music and music publishing.
“The revenue split between recording and publishing rights does not reflect the importance of songwriters, composers and publishers in the music streaming process,” the CMS report stated.
“We recommend that the Government bring forward measures for consultation with fans, music makers and other stakeholders to incentivize an optimal rate for publishing rights in order to fairly remunerate creators for their work.”
The committee also called for new rules that would require the consent of copyright holders for their materials to be used in the training of AI, and for those rightsholders to be compensated for that use.
(A similar stipulation was included in the European Union’s recently passed AI Act, which requires AI developers to obtain the consent of copyright holders when their materials are used for training purposes. However, it’s unclear to what extent this will result in rightsholders being paid for use of their materials in training AI, as the EU law states that AI developers can avoid this if “relevant copyright exceptions and limitations” apply.)
“The revenue split between recording and publishing rights does not reflect the importance of songwriters, composers and publishers in the music streaming process.”
Culture, Media and Sport Committee
The committee also called for the creation of a copying levy that would be charged on media devices and blank media, from which copyright holders would be paid for the copying of media between media and storage devices.
Twenty-one European Union countries have some form of this levy, as do Canada and Russia. In Europe, this levy amounts to 7% of total royalties collected.
The committee argued that the UK’s lack of such a regulation depresses creators’ income.
“Not only does a lack of such a scheme in the UK prevent British creators from receiving payments from the domestic market, but it has also put their payments from abroad under threat due to a lack of reciprocity with other countries,” the CMS report stated.
The CMS would like to see a private copying scheme developed within a year that “at minimum, safeguards reciprocal payments from abroad.”
The committee also recommended the creation of the office of a “Freelancers’ Commissioner,” whose job would be “to advocate across Government in the interests of creative freelancers, and of other freelance and self-employed people more broadly.”
And it reiterated its call for a “reset of music streaming” aimed at improving remuneration for creators whose works appear on streaming services, calling on the government to deliver “a package of measures designed to make streaming work for all.”
“Many of our talented actors, writers, composers and singers are failing to share in the global success of the UK’s creative industries as the sector struggles to navigate a perfect storm caused by everything from the emergence of AI through to the rapid changes in the way content is consumed,” said Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Chair of the CMS Committee, in a statement.
“If creators are no longer to be the poor relations, the Government needs to play catch up by plugging the gaps in outdated copyright and intellectual property regulations and ensuring that there is a champion for the rights of freelancers, who make such a vital contribution to their industries.”
“Many of our talented actors, writers, composers and singers are failing to share in the global success of the UK’s creative industries as the sector struggles to navigate a perfect storm caused by everything from the emergence of AI through to the rapid changes in the way content is consumed.”
Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Culture, Media and Sport Committee
The report has so far received mixed reactions from stakeholders in the music industry, with the Council of Music Makers (CMM) – an umbrella group for performers, songwriters and producers – saying it “welcomes” the report’s recommendations.
“It’s almost three years since the Committee called for a “complete reset” of streaming, and yet none of the issues around music-maker remuneration have been discussed, let alone addressed,” the CMM said in a statement emailed to media.
“For this to happen we need stakeholders from across the music industry to stop denying reality and to, instead, come to the table with solutions, whether that’s the copyright reforms proposed by MPs or a negotiated agreement.”
“It’s almost three years since the Committee called for a “complete reset” of streaming, and yet none of the issues around music-maker remuneration have been discussed, let alone addressed.”
Council of Music Makers
The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the UK’s recorded music trade association, gave the report a more lukewarm welcome.
“The Committee is right to highlight concerns around generative AI, in particular the alarming rise in the use of copyrighted work without permission or transparency, which is unquestionably the most significant issue facing the creative industries today,” BPI CEO Dr. Jo Twist said in a statement.
“That said, the report fails to recognize that, with the support of their labels, more UK artists are succeeding in the streaming economy than ever before and that the real challenge facing all of us is how we can enable continued growth so even more creators stand to benefit.
“In an increasingly competitive global industry, [the committee’s] approach risks limiting investment and harming the UK talent of the future, when what we need is a supportive regulatory environment in which British recorded music can thrive.”
“In an increasingly competitive global industry, [the committee’s] approach risks limiting investment and harming the UK talent of the future, when what we need is a supportive regulatory environment in which British recorded music can thrive.”
Dr. Jo Twist, BPI
The CMS committee has been at the forefront of the UK’s debate on compensation for creators ever since the government announced an investigation into the economics of music streaming in 2020.
In 2021, the CMS tabled a report that called on the government to expand the country’s “equitable remuneration” rules – which mandate a 50/50 royalty split between recorded music rights and publishing rights when music is broadcast on radio – to include streaming.
The report was also critical of the major labels, calling for the major labels’ dominance of the UK music industry to be referred for investigation by the country’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
In 2022, the CMA concluded that the major labels were “[not] likely to be making significant excess profits that could be shared with creators.”
And the proposal for equitable remuneration in streaming has so far gone nowhere. Earlier this year, the Intellectual Property Office concluded that equitable remuneration “does not offer a simple solution” and “more research is required’ on the subject.Music Business Worldwide
