Brits: sign the petition, save UK copyright

Letzte Aufforderung Erinnerung für unsere britischen Leser: die Nichtverlängerung der britischen Schutzfristen ist schon fast beschlossene Sache, aber eben nur fast. Bei der Open Rights Group und releasethemusic.org kann man noch online unterschreiben.

A leaked report from the Gowers Review – an expert body that is making recommendations on new UK copyright – suggests that Gowers will reject the idea that records produced in the past should get a fresh 45 years tacked onto their monopolies, a massive picking of the public pocket. Britain offered record labels a bargain: press a record, get 50 years of copyright. Now the labels are coming back and asking for nearly double that, and not just for the records they make tomorrow, but for the records they made yesterday, too.

There’s no way the labels will take this lying down. We must be sure that our MPs are aware that the public is watching this issue and will call its representatives to account if they cave into a few giant corporations’ greed.

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