Wednesday, the European Commission proposed a Directive to modernize collecting societies and the way money is distributed. However, artists are  unhappy with the proposal. A group representing more than 6.000 artists across the EU, including Robbie Williams, Annie Lennox and members of Radiohead and Pink Floyd, wrote a letter of complaint to the Commission.  

The proposal provides that collecting societies will have to pay royalties within 12 months after the financial year in which a song was played. Collecting societies are allowed to keep the fund if the copyright holder can't be identified within 5 years.  According to the group of artists, the 5 year period will encourage collecting societies to keep the money and reduces the incentive to find the copyright holders. "You have broken your promises and encourage the management of collecting societies to keep the fruits of our creativity. You stole our hopes." the letter reads.

In opposition, collecting societies state that they try to pay the copyright holders as quickly as they can and many of them already pay their members much quicker than the proposal demands. For example, British royalty collection agency PRS for Music pays its members every 3 months. 

Additionaly, European Commissioner Neelie Kroes sees the proposal as a very positive start to prepare our copyright system to adapt to digital realities.  "We should make it easier to legally access the content you love. Currently, that's harder than it should be." she writes on her blog. According to Kroes, the current system makes it harder for new ideas like Spotify to spread across the EU. She hopes that the European Parliament and Council will adopt the proposal soon.

Read more about the proposed Directive of the European Commission on FutureOfCopyright.com: 

• TODAY: European Commission proposes easier music licensing in the EU

Source: BBC

By: Marjolein van der Heide