London - The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), a group of U.K. artists including Billy Bragg and Radiohead that aims to give voice to musicians in industry issues, held its first meeting this week in London, and voted to oppose any laws that would criminalize music file-swapping. "If we follow the music industry down that road, we will be doing nothing more than being part of a protectionist effort. It’s like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube," FAC board member Billy Bragg told the Independent.

The 140-member group also said that sites like YouTube (NASD:  GOOG) and MySpace (NYSE:  NWS) should adequately compensate artists with a cut of the advertising revenue generated by their music videos, a nod to the current dispute between YouTube and U.K. royalty society PRS for Music that saw thousands of videos pulled from YouTube in the U.K. this week.

"As this revolution gathers pace Featured Artists must seize the initiative. We are looking to forge a new deal, built on fairness, with our fans, the music industry and governments," said FAC board member and Blur drummer Dave Rowntree.

Related Links:

http://snipurl.com/dr58u

(FAC statement)

http://snipurl.com/dr5u7 (Independent)

http://snipurl.com/dr0ls (Billboard)

http://www.featuredartistscoalition.com