It’s been clear that retailing Digital Music in Europe has been a lot more complex to organise than in the US. Witness the slower rollout of European music services – EU challenges EU-wide music royalty structure).
The collecting societies will be fighting their corner today at the hearing in Brussels. All involved hope this should go towards clarify the situation.
Failure to fix clear, fair rules for online music licensing has “been the main obstacle in Europe” blocking faster development of online music services, said Lucy Cronin, executive director of the European Digital Media Association. Quoted from the IHT as they covered the build up
Latest News 13:00 update
The run of the events so far. First thing this morning the commission presented its objection and the collecting societies presented their disagreements. This was followed by Q&A session lead by the Commission when one of the issues re-examined was cross board monitoring.
When we asked for an instant reaction to the situation, Lucy Cronin told Digital-Lifestyles “By lunchtime it doesn’t appear that the Commission are being swayed by the collecting societies arguments.”
This afternoon the Interested Parties will have an opportunity to present.
Following this hearing, the wheels of the Commission continue to turn. A report will be circulated for internal consultation. It is expected that it will be a couple of months until the EU ruling will be publicly announced.