back to article Tories offer record industry cash for righteousness

In an extraordinary quid pro quo, Dave Cameron has promised cash-strapped record industry execs an extra £3.3bn over the next five decades in exchange for less sex and violence in music. The Conservative leader pledged that if elected, he will move to extend the copyright term on sound recordings from 50 to 70 years, gifting a …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Err???

    How can extending copyright on 50 year old recordings be a "win for consumers too."

    If that's the sort of logic that politicians use then god help us

  2. Alexander Hanff

    Time to Vote green

    I was actually considering voting for Conservative in the next General Election. Not because I agree with their policies, but because I am damn sure I will never make the mistake of voting Labour again.

    If the Conservatives are planning on extending Copyright there is no way I will vote for them. I will have to either renew my membership with the Lib Dems or start to consider one of the smaller parties like the Green Party.

    Hopefully Conservative won't manage to get back into parliament before 2030 which should give me a chance to legally download all the classics from the 60s and 70s once they enter the public domain under the existing copyright laws.

  3. Dunstan Vavasour

    Disappointing

    Having been a member of the Conservative party for 25 years, I find this disappointing. For Lord Snooty to consider entering into a Faustian pact with this cartel is not what a potential government should be considering.

    Of course, the BPI won't play ball. This would result in the establishment/reinforcement of a music underground which bypasses their turnpikes, and hastens their demise. But the principle of offering to pass legislation which is of big financial advantage to a cartel in return for their adopting a policy on behalf of a potential government is corrupt.

  4. b166er

    Will I ever get to vote

    I've been allowed to vote for some 17 years. Will a day ever come when that's worth something? I mean, really, as if the government don't control enough of the media already, without buying Virgin Media (through Carlyle), the BPI, ISP's via blackmail, Murdoch. Christ! and he goes on about improving things and being positive role models. How about fixing the country with our hard earned cash, Dave, so we're no longer 37th on the Quality of Life Index, rather than handing it to the crooks above?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Great to see our politicians working for us

    So, in return for extending the duration of copyrights thereby keeping prices high, the recording industry agrees to restrict consumer choice? Nice. I can really see how that's a win-win situation for consumers.

  6. John A Blackley

    Good intentions but

    I understand Dave's need to pander to his voting base but........

    In his zeal to have an aging, outmoded industry appeal to 'the higher virtues' and in failing to recognise the emergence of channels for music other than the sclerotic 'established' music industry, isn't Dave just hastening the recording industry's doom?

    So bunking off is cool, being 'anti-everything' is cool, abuse and cursing is cool. So now the established recording industry is encouraged to produce only stuff your granny would listen to and, as a result, the young will...................?

    For goodness sake, think it through Dave!

  7. Rob

    Well, that's my vote lost

    Snoop into my internet activity without any proof that I may or may not be committing a crime? Yeah I'll vote for that, sure why not.

  8. Nick Ryan Silver badge

    Sod this country

    Sod this country... where's a good alternative place to live, where the government (or major opposition) isn't corrupt, righteously theocratic, just plain stupid or hell bent on modelling everything after the third reich?

  9. Tom

    Errm...

    What utter crap...

    (the Tories, rather, not the author or the commentors!)

  10. De Zeurkous

    Title

    I usually don't comment on titles (after all, the're usually funny), but I have to offer my explicit compliments on this one :^)

  11. De Zeurkous

    FU: Title

    s/Title/Subtitle. A bit sleepy, I guess.

  12. heystoopid

    Ironic

    Ironic , now where can I buy that new Austin-Rover now after the company received those tax payer billions?(hint go ask Maggie!)

    I wonder , does he by any chance own any shares in Thorn Industries , the company which has been trying to flog the lame duck Albatross hanging around it's neck called EMI for most of this new century?

    Sadly , history tells us that all state subsidized industries ultimately fail catastrophically and are literally a waste tax payer monies , when attempting to stave off the inevitable end!

    Those , that fail to learn that lesson from history are but doomed , to waste a lot more of the hard earned tax payer dollars then is reasonable!

    The "Peter Principle" rocks on in the new century , the Tony Blair "New Empire of the Backside" is doomed should this wanker win any election

  13. Colin Jackson

    Er...

    Since when did it become a new concept that kids music is about disengagement? It's always been like that! Nobody ever wrote pop songs about getting good exam results and entering a career in middle-management. Did Cameron skip the 60s? Punk ring any bells? No? Has Cameron ever listened to any rock and roll?

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re: Sod this country

    "Sod this country... where's a good alternative place to live, where the government (or major opposition) isn't corrupt, righteously theocratic, just plain stupid or hell bent on modelling everything after the third reich?"

    Ironically enough, Germany ranks high on personal privacy and quality of life.

  15. Spike Ravenscroft

    Tell them about it.

    Teenagers and young people have always been disaffected.

    Always.

    I'm quite sure there were sullen Cro-magnan kids as well.

    The key isnt 'cleaner' music, its education.

    The more people understand things, the better things get.

  16. Gavin Nottage

    What if...

    Rather than the Con-swerve-atives pandering to the record companies, what if the UK voted in a party that took nationalisation seriously (no idea if any party exists). What if they said there are no more record companies, that it's all state owned. That from everyone's tax all musicians/bands get paid according the number of downloads/streams/physical sales (which would be a lot cheaper). No barriers for anyone to become a musician with a "recording contract", but leave the gigging/merchandise side for private companies. The current A&R men can hype up acts for their salary. the big studios would hopefully still get used by the big stars who will use the facilities. Once the 50 years copyright is up no more royalties on each recording, but obviously the publishing would be a bit different. Just an idea...

  17. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

    Corruption or stupidity?

    How can anyone be such a schmuck? He gives his soul to the devil and pays for it - is that a good deal?

    Now the racketeers from BPI will have free lunch for another 20 years at the expense of the consumers and the quality of music will go down the drain even further (who needs to do anything when you can sit and count the money coming in without any effort on your part?).

    So, there must have been some additional promise made of campaign contributions from BPI or of, perhaps, nice vacations for some party members?

    The role of the Govt is to protect the country from market abuse by cartels and monopolies, not to help and promote them!

  18. Roger Paul

    Watch out for Bill...

    Anyone else noticed William Hauge hovering around behind Cameron recently? There's a look of "come on, that's silly, give me another go" on his little face... Watch that space...

  19. Richard Neill

    Idiot

    What Cameron should be doing is promising the voters a cut in copyright lengths. This would be good for society, and would *also* be good for the labels/artists, because it would force them to create new music, rather than living off the old.

  20. George Johnson

    Usual rant...

    <standard rant>

    Mr Cameron should stop messing about with music and performing arts, shmoozing rich record execs, and get to the root of the problems. Start fixing the NHS, start looking at free daycare for poor working parents, start looking at putting youth clubs back up, try to really find out why young Master Hoodies feels the need to beat up grannies, steal money, smoke Mary Jane and hang around the local train station until the sun comes up!

    </standard rant>

  21. Adrian Waterworth

    Copyright and copywrongs.

    I don't know about copyright extensions, but I do think that someone needs to harmonize and rationalize the whole copyright system. There are the differences between copyright terms, depending not only upon which country you're in, but also upon the type of copyrighted work. And then there's the whole issue of artists having to relinquish some or all of their copyrights to the music/entertainment industry (or whoever) in order to get their work out there in the first place. And, of course, the occasional shady practices of record companies, agents, managers, etc. It's just one big crock of poo and a cash cow for IP lawyers (and the music industry of course...)

    Basically, the whole thing needs a damn good clean out. And this typically stupid bit of political tomfoolery isn't anything of the sort.

    Oh well, clueless politician comes up with utterly dumbass idea...pictures at 11.

  22. Kevin Hall

    No change Tories

    Looking out for the rich and private property has always been one of the key beliefs of the Tory party so no change there, then. George said it best above when he said there are much more pressing issues then looking after Cliff Richard's pension fund.

    Can't wait for Big Dave's Tory love-fest of handing the record companies an unlimited monopoly (like the phones, electicity, gas, trains, water...) and government approved music in all the stores! Tipper Gore must be so jealous!

  23. N1AK

    Restricting choice & limiting freedom

    I never thought I'd see the day when the Tories became a bastion of Goverment control and Labour the choice of those not wanting more Goverment involvement in their lives.

    God damn this country is doomed.

  24. David Beck

    Tie copyright period to certificate

    Okay here's an idea to help "clean up" the entertainment industry. Tie the period of copyright to the certificate the content gets. Cert X gets a 30 day copyright, cert R gets a 180 day copyright, Cert PG gets a year, ... Nothing gets more than 10 years cos why should it.

  25. Ian

    RE: Good place to live

    "Ironically enough, Germany ranks high on personal privacy and quality of life."

    Unfortunately it's also has a pretty poor stance on individual freedoms though, various computer games have been banned through the years including rather major titles like Wolfenstein.

    If you really want somewhere that takes privacy seriously, has a good quality of life AND supports personal freedoms you need to look towards Norway, Sweden or Canada.

  26. Pete Silver badge

    £3.3B for 50 years ...

    That's 66 million per year. I can't see the record industry agreeing to that.

    It wouldn't even pay the cocaine bill at the christmas party.

    Cameron doesn't seem to get the concept of "being in power" (and why should he, he never has been?). if he wants to remove negative influences and attitudes from lyrics, a party in power only has to pass a law. It's not like the record industry has to volunteer to be bound by them - no matter how powerful they think they are

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    One Party State

    Labour , Conservative or Lib Dem, is there a difference any more? not from what I can see. I think it's time for a consumer revolution. Stop buying music and obtain it from other means, I know, let's start a nationwide P2P network in protest, let the Geheimestatspolitzei arrest 60% of the nation and see what that does to the opinion polls.

  28. Morely Dotes

    Does *no one* read history any more?

    "What if they said there are no more record companies, that it's all state owned."

    It didn't work with tractors in Russia, why would it work with music in the West?

    "If you really want somewhere that takes privacy seriously, has a good quality of life AND supports personal freedoms you need to look towards Norway, Sweden or Canada."

    Note that all three of those countries also suffer amazingly horrid weather in Winter, and (as one should expect) low populations, and high suicide rates. Well, perhaps Canada doesn't have high suicide rates. It's hard to tell: "Did this bloke off himself, or just fall over shoveling his front walk, and freeze to death before anyone noticed?"

  29. David Black

    Cash for peerages = censorship for copyright

    When we have a PM being interviewed by police for taking money to put people in the worthless house of lords that'll make sod all difference to anyone.

    How come this guy is offering to flog ALL of OUR rights to out of copyright material to a cartel in exchange for financial backing and developing his policies, how is that not corrupt?

    Why is Cameron breezing through the media when he's such an obvious fool? I can't think of one thing he's said/done that he hasn't rolled over on the minute anyone challenges him.

    I give up... I guess I could learn to like moose meat and herring!

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