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Based on the ZIP I sent you last night, we in PIRATA are working on a
proposal for that joint press release. Most links are in Spanish so
English-written equivalents would be required; I send this in html to
preserve it's original format, and also to contribute to the joint
efforts.<br>
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<p align="justify"><font color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font
size="2"><span style=""><span
style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;">It's
close to be passed within the European Union the commercial rights
term extension on music, movies and other cultural works editions,
from 50 to 95 years.</span></span></font></font></font></p>
<p><font color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2">To
this, the Commission <i>justifies</i> itself this way: “<i>the
current term of protection of 50 years</i> [...] <i>often does not
protect their performances during their entire lifetime. Therefore,
performers face an income gap</i> (sic) <i>at the end of their
lifetimes. They are also often not able to rely on their rights to
prevent or restrict objectionable uses of their performances that
occur during their lifetime</i>[...] <i>The term of protection for
fixations of performances and for phonograms should therefore be
extended to 95 years after publication of the phonogram and the
performance fixed therein
</i>”. In other words<font face="DejaVu Sans, sans-serif"><span
style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;">:
</span></font><font face="DejaVu Sans, sans-serif"><b><span
style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;">because
they felt like it</span></b></font><font face="DejaVu Sans, sans-serif"><span
style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;">
-as today they don't always last until the death of the
artist/interpreter, EC wants it (without reasons) to last until death
and far beyond</span></font>.</font></font></font></p>
<p><font color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2">Being
still fresh <a
href="http://www.boe.es/aeboe/consultas/bases_datos/doc.php?coleccion=iberlex&id=2006/82676"
target="_blank">2006's
directive</a> which rules this question, one thinks whether they
neglected at not dealing then with this issue or since then just the
pro-</font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font
size="2"><i>copyright</i></font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font
face="sans-serif"><font size="2">
lobby has made significant effect on them.</font></font></font></p>
<p><font color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2">If EC's
sincere worry were the rights on editions expiring at the death of
authors -needs to be pointed that
</font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font
size="2"><i>Star
Wars</i></font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font
face="sans-serif"><font size="2">
(1977) is one edition and </font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font
face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><i>Star
Wars Xxth Anniversary</i></font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font
face="sans-serif"><font size="2">
(1997) is a different one), the proposal would be that the term
expiration "</font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font
face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><i>should
be set at the author's death</i></font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2">";
it's not the case, thus it's not the true reason. Which is, then? As
simple as veteran artists like Víctor Manuel, Johnny Halliday, <a
href="http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/180263/0/mccartney/u2/robbie/"
target="_blank">Cliff
Richards, Paul McCartney</a> would stop soon receiving exclusive
income, and they want to keep such income </font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><i>ad
aeternum</i></font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font
face="sans-serif"><font size="2">.
However, </font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font
face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><b>the
European Commission's proposal is a law fraud</b></font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2">.</font></font></font></p>
<p><font color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2">And it
is because United Nations <a
href="http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/898586b1dc7b4043c1256a450044f331/03902145edbbe797c125711500584ea8/$FILE/G0640060.pdf"
target="_blank">stated
in 2005</a> that the main goal for commercial author's rights is "</font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><i>to
enable those authors to enjoy an adequate standard of living</i></font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2">".</font></font></font></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><font color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2">Considering
the long career and high income of the forementioned artists, what does
</font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font
size="2"><i>an adequate standard of living</i></font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2"> mean? It is
pointless to talk about minimum wages in their cases, as their albums
have brought them hundreds of thousand, even millions -more than what <a
href="http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/288314/0/demasiados/mileuristas/espanoles/"
target="_blank">more than half of working Spaniards</a> (counting with
inflation) will ever earn during all their career-, nor is EC's
proposal aiming to secure x times the minimum wage for each work to
each artist.</font></font></font></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><font color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2">The
EC's PDF states that "</font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font
face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><i>many European performers
(musicians or singers) start their career in their early 20's. That
means that when the current 50 year protection ends, they will be in
their 70's and likely to live well into their 80's and 90's (average
life expectancy in the EU is 75 years for men and 81 years for women)</i></font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2">"; then, why 95
years, if that brings us beyond 120 years lifespan? What sort of
alchemy leads to that magic and round amount -neither 94 nor 96, nor 90
nor 100-? Taking as reference that United Kingdom was until recently <a
href="http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSL2442476820070724"
target="_blank">against such proposal</a> and that now it's <a
href="http://www.metamorphosis.org.mk/content/view/1328/1/lang,en/"
target="_blank">keen to as long as the extension becomes lower</a>
(specífically, 70), the amount seems to be set with a mere dealing
purpose, a classical and tricky </font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><i>quid pro quo.</i></font></font></font></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><font color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2">EC
attempts to be touching, talking about artist income "</font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><i>decreases
when they are at the most vulnerable period of their lives, i.e.
</i></font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font
face="sans-serif"><font size="2"> </font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><i>when they
are approaching retirement
</i></font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font
face="sans-serif"><font size="2">"; however if we take an artist like
David Bisbal (still young) with a 0'60 €/sold copy contract, <a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bisbal#Discography"
target="_blank">selling 7 million copies in 8 years</a> (what means
more than 4 million € without considering other sources of income), EC
would allow us to be more worried about the retirement of millions of </font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><i>mileurists</i></font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2">, pre-retired
and <a
href="http://www.elpais.com/articulo/economia/Bruselas/augura/Espana/tasa/paro/2010/elpepieco/20090120elpepieco_2/Tes"
target="_blank">unemployed EU citizens</a>.</font></font></font></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><font color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2">And
as the main key, the rights management organisations (RMOs), controlled
by </font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font
size="2"><i>selected</i></font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font
face="sans-serif"><font size="2"> artists and by the record labels, as
in the Spanish SGAE case. The own EC arguments that "</font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><i>artists </i></font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2">(some,
actually) </font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font
face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><i>receive income from collecting
societies which administer so-called secondary remuneration claims</i></font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2"> [...] </font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><i>there are
three principal sources: (1) equitable remuneration for broadcasting
and communication to the public, (2) private copying levies and (3)
equitable remuneration for the transfer of the performers' rental right</i></font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2"> [...] </font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><i>and are paid
to performers directly through their collecting societies</i></font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2">”; thus,
besides the fact that </font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font
face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><b>EC lies</b></font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2"> -<a
href="http://www.copia-privada-si.com/que-es-la-copia-privada/la-compensacion-por-copia-privada-una-cuestion-de-justicia-para-autores-y-editores-un-beneficio-para-la-sociedad"
target="_blank">labels, at least in Spain, also take a share from
levies</a>-, its proposal means more money to be managed by a few in an
opaque, let we say, manner. Whoever that knows <a
href="http://www.partidopirata.es/blog/comunicado-de-la-junta-directiva-nacional-de-solidaridad-con-ana-maria-mendez-y-con-el-resto-de-damnificados-por-sentencias-similares-y-de-denuncia-contra-la-impunidad-de-sgae/"
target="_blank">how SGAE works</a>, will know that this new levies
income won't improve the standard of living of all authors, but only
that of </font></font></font><a
href="http://www.partidopirata.es/blog/la-paz-del-canon/"
target="_blank"><font color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font
size="2"><i>very selected</i></font></font></font></a><font
color="#000000"> </font><font color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font
size="2">ones as well as record labels'.</font></font></font></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><font color="#000000"><font
face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><b>EC's
proposal is, thus, a law fraud; and it is because the only (and
enormous) standard of living that it aims to secure </b></font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><i><b>ad
aeternum</b></i></font></font></font><font color="#000000"><font
face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><b>
is that of few privilegees at the expense of all EU citizens. </b></font></font></font><font
color="#000000"><font face="sans-serif"><font size="2"><span style="">Regards</span></font></font></font></p>
<br>
-----------------------------------------<br>
<br>
<br>
Carlos Ayala<br>
( Aiarakoa )<br>
<br>
Partido Pirata National Board's Chairman
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