The Institute for Public Policy Research, a UK think tank, has released a report on the deplorable state of British copyright law, where it is still illegal to rip your CDs and put them on your iPod. Britain is seriously considering extending the term of copyright on sound recordings by 45 years, to a whopping 95 years — and not just for new recordings, but retroactively. Nearly all the 50-year-old sound recordings ever made are out of print. Locking them away for 45 more years creates the very real possibility that every known copy of these recordings will expire before their copyright does. Adding another 45 years to these old records can't possibly provide an incentive to make new recordings — Elvis Presley isn't going back into the studio, not even if you gave him a million years' worth of copyright.
Most British copyright law gets written at the behest of giants like EMI, without any public interest analysis — and it's time that changed.
IPPR deputy director Dr Ian Kearns said: "When it comes to protecting the interests of copyright holders, the emphasis the music industry has put on tackling illegal distribution and not prosecuting for personal copying, is right.
"But it is not the music industry's job to decide what rights consumers have that is the job of government."
Report author Kay Withers said: "The idea of all-rights reserved doesn't make sense for the digital era and it doesn't make sense to have a law that everyone breaks. To give the IP regime legitimacy it must command public respect."
(Thanks to everyone who suggested this link!)
