Disagreement over how long the long tail should be… Former FT editor Andrew Gowers, whose 2006 review of UK intellectual property law for Gordon Brown advised against extending copyright beyond 50 years, has lambasted culture secretary Andy Burnham for proposing exactly that. Burnham was reportedly ready to offer an extension of the term to 95 years in harmony with a proposed EC directive, arguing there is a “moral case” to let performers earn royalties for longer.
But far be it from incentivising artists; an extension will merely “create a windfall for a few music companies (for example, EMI) with some valuable recordings (for example, The Beatles) that are about to go off copyright“, Gowers writes in the FT. Gowers acknowledged digital distribution and the “rapidly changing dynamics of the business” demanded policy intervention to stop artists being robbed of royalties – but, rather than merely extending copyright, “they suggest a focus on the balance and flexibility of copyright, and on better enforcing the protection that already exists”, Gowers said; “not on extending a right largely derided by younger citizens”. He called Burnham “silly and out of touch“.