Global Repertoire Database Working Group
The Global Repertoire Database Working Group, formed as a result of an initiative by EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes, has published its recommendations.
The document sets out the process that the Working Group has gone through over the last 12 months in its efforts to develop a Global Repertoire Database for musical works. The document describes the conclusions reached by the Working Group and its recommendations to the wider stakeholder community for the way forward for the successful deployment of a GRD for musical works.
The GRD WG has chosen the International Copyright Enterprise (“ICE”) and Deloitte as the organisations best placed to lead to the successful launch of the musical work GRD. The two organisations will be carrying out a Scoping and Stakeholder Consultation Study, which is planned to conclude in Autumn 2011. The objectives of the Study will be to cement the business and technical blueprint for the GRD moving forward whilst the two organisations will be working together to develop any additional functionality that may be required.
Key to the Study is widespread stakeholder consultation. The GRD WG are therefore extending invitations to CISAC and ICMP to join the group and consider, principally but not exclusively, data workflow, finance and governance. This expanded GRD WG will begin a series of meetings presenting the recommendations in more detail to representative industry organisations.
The initiative aims to lower the administrative barriers to businesses seeking to distribute content online and ensure that creators of music are quickly and efficiently compensated for their work. The Global Repertoire Database is to provide, for the first time, a single, comprehensive and authoritative representation of the global ownership, administration and control of musical works. The members of the International Music Publishers Association have committed to putting their repertoire data into an open, transparent and efficient GRD.
About the GRD WG
In September 2008 Commissioner Kroes initiated the Online Commerce Roundtable whereby a selection of music rights holders and rights managers, music service providers and consumer representatives met to discuss issues relating to the provision of online music services . The participants, iTunes, Amazon, Nokia, PRS for Music, SACEM, STIM, EMI Music Publishing and Universal Music Publishing Group, were invited by the European Commission to set up the Global Repertoire Database Working Group to carry forward the work initiated in the Online Commerce Roundtable.
The Working Group published a Request for Information in April of this year, which received in excess of thirty responses from a range of rights owners, music licensees and technology service providers. The Working Group used elements of these submissions to create a more formal Request for Proposals, which was published at the end of July. The Working Group received fourteen responses to the RfP and received more detailed presentations from some of those organisations. This has now led to the publication of the White Paper.
The recommendation document and more information about the whole project can be obtained at http://globalrepertoiredatabase.com.
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