Upcoming Conf: Sound Property? Investigating the Legal Status of Sound Recordings (Salford)

SOUND PROPERTY? INVESTIGATING THE LEGAL STATUS OF SOUND RECORDINGS
AN INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE ON MUSIC & COPYRIGHT
UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD
28 - 29 MAY 2009

This conference proposes to investigate the current U.S. and U.K. statutes that regulate the protection of sound recordings. It will inquire to what degree those laws secure the rights of both the owners and creators of the music contained on these products as well as determine their impact upon those who consume and comment upon this material. The pending efforts to universalize an extended term of copyright underscore the potential for even more draconian controls upon recorded music. Will the public, creators, and commentators continue to be able to acquire, appreciate and appropriate musical materials? Can some balance be found between the need for profit and the pursuit of pleasure? Is it possible in a civil society for music effectively to be silenced through constraints over its recorded legacy?

Keynote Speakers Include:

Nicholas Cook, University of Cambridge. Music: A Very Short Introduction & Music, Imagination & Culture

Simon Frith, University of Edinburgh Taking Popular Music Seriously; Sound Effects; Editor, Music & Copyright

Kembrew McLeod, University of Iowa Freedom of Expression: Resistance & Repression in the Age of Intellectual Property; Owning Culture: Ownership, Authorship & Intellectual Property

Further details at:
http://www.adelphi.salford.ac.uk/adelphi/p/?s=23&pid=90

Extension to Copyright in the EU

EXTENSION TO COPYRIGHT ACROSS THE EU

[From the Open Rights Group:]
The European Parliament is set to vote on whether to double the term of copyright in sound recordings. Please register your concern at an event on the proposed Term Extension Directive, on Tuesday 27 January 2009 in the European Parliament in Brussels:

http://soundcopyright.eventbrite.com/

This flawed Directive has been unanimously condemned by Europe's leading intellectual property research centres. The European Parliament must address the mounting concerns of consumer groups and copyright users if they want a modern, workable copyright policy. Please, if you can, come to Brussels and register your concern.

If you can't make it, please forward this mail to your MEP (you can get their contact details here:
http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/Political_Memory) and ask them to:

*Strongly oppose this legislation

*Attend the 27 January event on your behalf

*Sign the Sound Copyright petition (http://www.soundcopyright.eu/petition)

*Watch the Open Rights Groups' cartoon "How copyright term extension in Sound Recordings actually works" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kijON_XODUk)




SPREAD THE WORD: HOW COPYRIGHT TERM EXTENSION IN SOUND RECORDINGS ACTUALLY WORKS:

The Open Rights Group and animators Eclectech, whose work has included pieces for Friends of the Earth and No2ID in the UK, have produced a short animation explaining "How copyright term extension in Sound Recordings actually works". Check it out at the link below and show your friends and your MEPs why term extension is a really bad idea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kijON_XODUk

ANDREW GOWERS HITS OUT AT "OUT OF TUNE" TERM EXTENSION:

The former editor of the Financial Times, Andrew Gowers, hit out at the UK Government's suggestion that they should consider a copyright extension as "out of tune with reality". Gowers original evidence-based review for the UK Government concluded against extending copyright.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ba280756-ca07-11dd-93e5-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1


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