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2011Review: EU Copyright Extension And All That... Roll On 2012!!
"Another year over, and a new one just begun..."
As the new year begins, there is just enough time to look in the rearview mirror at the year that is over, before it fades from view...
Generally, 2011 seems to have been a good year for the music industry in spite of the uncertain world economic situation. Whilst the digital download market continues to grow, it is no secret that it is not growing fast enough to compensate for the continuing fall in physical sales. Nevertheless, according to technology research firm Gartner, "online music revenues are expected to rise by about 7 percent this year to $6.3 billion" (Reuters.com).
Furthermore, several agreements and official decisions this last year show a definite shift in the battle against illegal downloading and file sharing, and a welcome change in favour of artists and rights holders.
Possibly the highest profile event of the year was the European Union ruling on copyright law, extending the term of copyright protection from 50 to 70 years. Although it will be a couple of years until it is fully implemented, it is without doubt an event to celebrate.
As well as this, rights organisations worldwide have generally been working tirelessly to get backing from companies in a position to help stem the abuse of illegal downloads. 2011 saw companies such as Visa, Mastercard, Paypal as well as Internet Service Providers (ISP) worldwide provide their backing in the fight against illegal sales and file sharing.
One of the other debates that gathered speed in 2011 is the impact of cloud services on the music industry, with Apple having just launched its iTunes Match cloud service in December. 2012 should start to see how much of an impact the cloud services will have on the recording industry as a whole.
Overall, the EU copyright extension together with other agreements have undoubtedly helped consolidate a real shift in power back towards artists and rights holders, and as we turn the page on 2011, this most definitely ensures that we should start 2012 with a brighter and more positive outlook than 12 months ago.
Roll on 2012, and a Happy New Year from everyone at The Source!!
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