[JURIST] The UK Department for Culture, Media, and Sport [official website] Tuesday rejected [report, PDF] a recommendation to push the EU for longer copyright terms for sound recordings, citing the 2006 Gowers Review of Intellectual Property [PDF text]. The Gowers Review found that "it is not clear that extension of term would benefit musicians and performers very much in practice," and could potentially hurt the balance of trade. Musicians and recording industry representatives criticized the decision, which they said would deny them fair compensation for their artistic efforts.

Currently, a British audio recordings copyright is limited to 50 years from the time of the recording. In May, the House of Commons Culture, Media, and Sport Committee recommended [JURIST report] the government press the European Commission to extend the copyright term for sound recordings to at least 70 years based on the committee's belief that a "copyright represents a moral right of a creator to choose to retain ownership and control of their own intellectual property." EUobserver has more.