Online music, European licences for streaming services approved by Parliament

New Directive approved for the creation of cross-border collective management organisations representing authors’ rights. Authors should receive their royalties promptly (within 9 months)

Brussels tried to back music industry trough pushing the sale and diffusion of music – in particular, cross-borders streaming services. New rules on music copyright, approved by Parliament on 6 February, aim to make it easier for online providers to get licences to stream music in more than one EU country. The targets are to stimulate the development of EU-wide online music services for consumers, to ensure a better protection of artists’ rights, and to ensure artists receive adequate royalties promptly.

“This directive will effectively protect the interests of European creators and make it possible for end users to have access to copyright-protected content throughout Europe,” said the Rapporteur, Marielle Gallo (EPP). “It is a clear signal that copyright,” which “has an essential role to play in the digital economy,” she added, “can be easily adapted to the Internet.”

With these new cross-border licences, service providers should find it easier to stream music services across the EU. Licences will be obtained from collective management organisations representing authors’ rights across borders. Collective management organisations that do not themselves issue copyright licences for more than one country will be able to request another organisation to represent their repertoire. Under certain conditions, those organisations would be obliged to do so.

Good news for artists is that royalties will have to be distributed as quickly as possible, and in any case no later than nine months from the end of the financial year in which the rights revenue was collected.

If the Council formally approves the Directive, EU Member States will have 24 months to incorporate the directive into national law – which should hence be effective from 2016.