Brussels - A proposal to extend copyright term lengths from 50 to 95 years has passed in the European Commission, and will now move to a vote before the European Parliament.

The extension comes with a catch, however, as ownership of recordings will revert to the performer if the record label or other copyright owner fails to market the recordings in question.

The "use it or lose it" clause will kick in during the extended copyright term; if neither performer nor producer wish to market the recording, the work would move into the public domain.

In particular, the Commission said the proposal was meant to help session musicians, engineers and lesser-known artists from the 1960's and earlier, who rely on royalty payments as part of their pensions.

Part of the proposal calls for record companies to set up a fund into which they will have to pay 20% of their revenues earned during the extended copyright period, designated to help session musicians.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/30a7t (European Commission statement)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/16/ec_copyright_term_extension/

http://snipurl.com/30a06 (Ars Technica)

http://snipurl.com/30a0b (TorrentFreak)