British Consumers Demand Fair Play on Copyright for British Musicians

British Consumers Demand Fair Play on Copyright for British Musicians

LONDON, November 12/PRNewswire/ --

- ALMOST TWO-THIRDS OF BRITISH PUBLIC SUPPORT MUSIC INDUSTRY BID TO
BRING UK COPYRIGHT PROTECTION IN LINE WITH THE US.

New research shows a majority of British consumers support the record
industry's battle for extended copyright protection for UK artists.

62 per cent of those polled agreed that UK artists should be protected
for the same number of years as their American counterparts, by extending the
term of copyright for sound recordings from its current 50 years to 95 years.

The YouGov poll, commissioned by the BPI, the British recording industry
trade association, found only 20 per cent of respondents did not agree that
copyright should be brought in line with the US, while 18 per cent were
unsure.

The research - the first to canvass the views of the British public on
this issue - provide an insight into consumers' attitudes as the British
music industry awaits results of the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property,
set to be published at the end of November.

The survey will add further weight to the growing campaign for a
harmonisation of copyright term.

Early next week, MPs will receive a leaflet from the BPI highlighting
five key reasons to harmonise the copyright term:

- to support the unique cultural asset of the UK music industry - to
drive re-investment in the creative economy - to end the discrimination of
protection afforded to other cultural industries - to benefit consumers
through increased availability of music at no extra cost - to boost UK's
international competitiveness in the global knowledge economy.

Peter Jamieson, chairman of the BPI, says: "We are hugely encouraged that
the majority of British consumers agree with us that UK musicians should
receive as much copyright protection as their US counterparts."

"Our unique and internationally renowned industry would use a term
extension to continue to invest heavily in the creative economy for future
generations and consolidate the rights and works of our cultural
ambassadors."

Notes to Editors:

BPI - Representing the British Recorded Music Industry

The BPI is the British record industry's trade association. It has
represented the interests of British record companies since being formally
incorporated in 1973. Its membership comprises of more than 400 companies
including all four major record companies, associate members such as
manufacturers and distributors plus hundreds of independent music companies
representing literally thousands of labels which together account for over
90% of recorded music output in the UK.

http://www.bpi.co.uk

Gowers Review:

In December last year, the Chancellor of the Exchequer asked Andrew
Gowers, formerly the Editor of the Financial Times, to launch a review into
the UK's intellectual property framework - deadline for submission of
evidence was Friday 21 April 2006. The BPI, the UK record companies' trade
association, submitted written and oral evidence.

YouGov poll:

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample
size was 2,034 British adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 2nd - 6th
November 2006. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been
weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

This survey has been conducted using an online interview administered
members of the YouGov Plc GB panel of 115,000+ individuals who have agreed to
take part in surveys. An email was sent to panellists selected at random from
the base sample according to the sample definition, inviting them to take
part in the survey and providing a link to the survey.

YouGov plc make every effort to provide representative information. All
results are based on a sample and are therefore subject to statistical errors
normally associated with sample-based information.

Source: BPI

Contact: Matt Phillips BPI Communications Manager T: +44-(0)20-7803-1326
mailto:matt.phillips@bpi.co.uk. Frances Stevenson Portland PR T: +44-(0)20-7404-5344, mailto:frances.stevenson@portlandpr.co.uk

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