James Delahunty
14 Oct 2005 16:03
Now anyone who wishes to setup an online music download service in the European Union will have a much easier job than services like iTunes and Napster have had. The European Commission said on Wednesday that online music download services can get single licenses to operate in all 25 member states. "These licenses will make it easier for new European-based online services to take off," internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said in a statement.
The EU is trailing far behind the U.S. in terms of music download sales. Some popular music download services in the U.S. avoided opening stores in Europe because the old system required permission from dozens of license holders in each state including some artists, labels, royalty collection societies and publishers. McCreevy had been pushing for a cross border licensing scheme to be implemented into the EU for music download services and now it appears he has gotten his wish and intends to make sure it goes as planned.
"I will be monitoring the situation closely and, if I am not satisfied that sufficient progress is being made, I will take tougher action," he said. The European Commission said in guildlines to the industry on Wednesday that royalty collecting societies for music should henceforth have the right to operate across the EU without any territorial restrictions.
Source:
News.com