That's not all right

...says music business as first rock classic goes out of copyright

By Louise Jury, Arts Correspondent

26 July 2004

With Elvis Presley back in the charts 50 years after his first single was released, you might expect his record label to be raking in revenue, but a quirk of European copyright law means BMG has only months to capitalise on the re-release of "That's All Right" before it falls into the public domain.

The legal loophole allows anyone to re-release a copy of a song 50 years after it was first released, without paying royalties to the owners of the master tapes or to the performers. So half a century after the dawn of rock 'n' roll, the issue of copyright is now at the forefront of record companies' minds.

A roll-call of other early rock 'n' roll hits, including Bill Haley's "Shake, Rattle and Roll" come out of copyright in Europe simultaneously this January. Within a few years, a number of potentially lucrative recordings, such as all of the Beatles' back catalogue, could also be up for grabs. With such a major headache on the horizon, the recording industry is finally preparing to fight for terms similar to those in America.

At present in Europe, copyright protection runs out from 1 January half a century after a recording is first released, whereas recordings in America have protection for 95 years after they were made.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is leading around 20 recording bodies, including the Association of Independent Music, by preparing to take the issue to the heart of Europe. Their first task is to get the UK Government on side.

Peter Jamieson, the BPI's executive chairman, said yesterday that the Elvis anniversary was the call to arms. "I think that in all these cases you need some kind of event to galvanise people," he said.

The dangers of the status quo were twofold, he said. Firstly, British recording companies were often competing with America, and having less favourable copyright terms put them at a commercial disadvantage. But it was also unfair to performers and record label investors that they would fail to get a return because of a free-for-all in Europe after such a short period - and often within the lifetime of the artist.

Although America has the best terms for recordings, Australia and Brazil have copyright terms of 70 years, and India 60 years. Better terms are also enjoyed by composers and writers in Britain, who enjoy copyright protection for 70 years after their death.

Mr Jamieson said that the real threat to the British recording industry was "when we get this wealth of British repertoire which started in around 1960 falling into anybody's hands". This includes the Shadows and Cliff Richard as well as the Beatles.

The cost to the record labels can be seen already with stars of the pre-rock 'n' roll era, such as Frank Sinatra. Every year, EMI finds more of his recordings being exploited as more and more songs come out of copyright. This January, the Sinatra classic "Three Coins in a Fountain" joins those already in the public domain.

There is nothing illegal in these rival recordings and some believe that making these works freely available gives the public access to historic material. But the labels argue that they invested in the artists originally and their capacity to continue to invest in new talent is often dependent on the income generated by their back catalogue.

While music purists will always want to have the best-quality recordings based on the master tapes, others will not care from whom they buy their pop classics.

The issue was raised in June last year when the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, representing the worldwide industry, asked the European Commission to extend the term of copyright. The Commission has since been working on a review.

But Mr Jamieson said that the issue seemed less pressing for other European countries who did not have such a thriving record industry.

"We're confident we'll get the Government on side, although it's early days. But European support is a different matter because they don't have the richness of sound recordings that we do."

ANNIVERSARY BLUES

1 January 2005 Elvis Presley's first batch of recordings fall out of copyright, including "That's All Right", "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Blue Moon". Others affected include Ray Charles' "I Got a Woman"

1 January 2006 Chuck Berry's debut "Maybellene", Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame", The Platters' "The Great Pretender" and "Bo Diddley" by Bo Diddley

1 January 2007 Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel", James Brown's "Please Please Please", Johnny Cash's "I Walk The Line", Lonnie Donegan's "Rock Island Line", Tommy Steele's "Rock The Caveman" and "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard

1 January 2011 The Shadows' "Apache"

1 January 2012 "Please Mr Postman" by the Marvelettes

1 January 2013 "Love Me Do" by the Beatles followed by the entire Beatles repertoire over the following eight years

© 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd