EU Archives

Music revenues in Europe are 39% below 2001 levels

25/10/2024

Music revenues in Europe are 39% below 2001 levels according to a recent report by IFPI, the organisation representing record companies worldwide, which looked at recorded music in the European Union. The report, Music in the EU: A Global Opportunity, explores the ways in which the work and investment of record companies is helping to drive the success of European music and artists, both domestically and internationally, whilst providing insight into the challenges and opportunities […]

European lyrics and lyric translations get a boost

10/01/2024

European lyrics and lyric translations get a boost as BELEM announces that two major European artists have won grants from the programme’s first Open Call, as it also launches its second Open Call to the industry. The BELEM project (Boosting European Lyrics and their Entrepreneurial Monetization) aims to foster the licensing, aggregation, distribution, exhibition and translation of lyrics to increase the export and promotion of European lyrics and lyric translations. According to BELEM, the easy […]

Digital Piracy is declining in the EU and UK

16/12/2021

Digital Piracy is declining in the EU and UK according to a recent report by the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). In Trends in Digital Copyright Infringement in the European Union, the EUIPO’s main finding was that digital piracy is declining for all types of content (TV, Film and Music). Except for a temporary increase in film piracy in the spring of 2020, the decline continued during the COVID pandemic with total piracy falling by […]

EU updates its Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List

24/12/2020

EU updates its Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List which was first published last year which ‘names websites and physical marketplaces outside the EU that are reported to engage in, facilitate or benefit from counterfeiting and piracy.’ The Watch List aims to encourage the operators of these marketplaces to prevent intellectual property infringements and inform citizens on the environmental, product safety and other risks of purchasing from these potentially problematic markets. The Watch List has four […]

EU Commission publishes first ‘Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List’

22/12/2018

EU Commission publishes first ‘Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List’ which highlights the continuing threat of music copyright infringement including stream ripping sites. The Counterfeit and Piracy Watch List lists websites and marketplaces outside the EU that are responsible for counterfeiting, piracy or other forms of intellectual property abuse of European products. It is intended both to raise awareness with law enforcement authorities and policymakers of these sites’ unlicensed nature, as well as to encourage intermediaries […]

YouTube CEO warns of unintended consequences of new EU Copyright rules

28/11/2018

YouTube CEO warns of unintended consequences of new EU Copyright rules in YouTube’s Creator Blog. Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube, whilst supporting the goals of Article 13 believes that it could ‘have a profound impact on the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people’. The European Parliament recently agreed new legislation on digital copyright rules which now await ratification by the EU’s member states. One particularly contentious part of the legislation is Article 13, ‘which […]

European Parliament approves new digital copyright rules

19/09/2018

The European Parliament agreed new legislation on digital copyright rules on 12th September 2018 which will now need to be signed off by the EU’s member states before local laws can be drafted to put them into effect. The legislation was approved by 438 votes to 226, with 39 abstentions and has some important changes to the EU Commission’s original June 2018 proposals adding safeguards to protect small firms and freedom of expression. The proposals […]