New Music Strategies reader and BPI board member Paul Birch reports: “Hard to believe but we (BPI) have been awarded £41M in the High Court in the BPI case against CD WOW. CD WOW had ignored the High Courts injunction preventing them from bringing in parallel imports from the Far East. Today’s award reflects a sea-change in the serious view now taken by the courts in England on copyright infringement. With the House of Commons Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee only last week publishing its report recommending an extension of the term of copyright in sound recordings to at least 70 years, and with Angela Merkel the German Chancellor and President of both the EU and G8 advocating term extension, there is a reversal of fortunes for Europe’s Recorded Music sector.”
It is fair to say that Paul and I do not always agree on our evaluation of whether a piece of news is good or not.