February 2010
Government Working Party to Develop Model Record Contracts
The UK Intellectual Property Office, in collaboration with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, have announced that they will be putting together a working party to develop template contracts and model clauses which protect artists from assigning too much of their rights to record companies/publishers.
In line with the “conclusions and actions” the UKIPO highlighted in its report © the way ahead: A Strategy for Copyright in the Digital Age, released last year, the proposal focuses on protecting the rights of young artists when signing record deals at the early stages of their careers.
A spokesman for the UKIPO stated that signing some of the contracts out there is like entering into a pact with the devil.
BRIFFA Comment
The proposals have faced some criticism from professionals in the record industry who argue that there is already sufficient legislation and industry regulation in place for the protection of artists’ rights and the Government should not be getting involved with commercial agreements in such way.
Whilst this is a valid point and the Government should maintain its independence and refrain from getting involved with private commercial arrangements it is also true that many record/publishing contracts are extremely unfairly balanced in favour of the record companies/publishers and so any action to help strike a fairer balance with the rights of the artists can not be a bad thing.
An alternative option to such direct interference could be for the Government to focus on ways of increasing the accessibility of business and legal advice to young artists and therefore empowering them with vital knowledge regarding their rights before they enter into commercial discussions.
The reality of the industry remains however that in nearly all cases the record/publishing companies will have a lot more bargaining power than the young artists seeking to sign up to their label and therefore the ability for artists to negotiate with them is heavily limited by this factor.
For more information on record/publishing contracts and scope and protection of artist rights please do not hesitate to get into contact with one of our specialist lawyers via INFO.