The UK copyright regime needs to be led by the European Union (EU) post-Brexit to avoid any impact on the music business, an industry expert has urged.
Naomi Pohl from the Musicians' Union (MU) made the comments as part the Beginners Guide to Brexit panel session at The Great Escape in Brighton.
Commenting on the potential copyright impact on the music industry, Naomi said: 'We hope the UK government will still be led by decisions at EU level. We still want to continue in the Digital Single Market (DSM) even if we're not in the European Union's Single Market as we are now.'
'There are various copyright proposals planned at EU level to make it easier for people to trade in the DSM and we still want to be part of that. It's not in our interests for our copyright regime to go down a different route, because it could impact how people trade with us. It may not be an actual barrier to how they trade with us but it could mean that it is a perceived barrier and they think it is easier to trade within the EU and leave the UK out of it. We certainly don't want that.'
The panel, which also included Lucie Caswell from the Featured Artists Coalition and Proper Music's Vangel Vlaski, agreed that while it is difficult to predict what the future for the industry looks like post-Brexit, the referendum decision has created great uncertainty for the music industry as well as wider UK economy.
Vangel warned that whatever outcome is agreed, the greatest impact is likely to be felt at grassroots level where margins are already tightest.
Read our recent feature from PRS for Music's Ali Condron on the work taking place to ensure songwriters get a fair hearing at the Brexit negotiating table.
Read all our content from the Great Escape 2017.
Naomi Pohl from the Musicians' Union (MU) made the comments as part the Beginners Guide to Brexit panel session at The Great Escape in Brighton.
Commenting on the potential copyright impact on the music industry, Naomi said: 'We hope the UK government will still be led by decisions at EU level. We still want to continue in the Digital Single Market (DSM) even if we're not in the European Union's Single Market as we are now.'
'There are various copyright proposals planned at EU level to make it easier for people to trade in the DSM and we still want to be part of that. It's not in our interests for our copyright regime to go down a different route, because it could impact how people trade with us. It may not be an actual barrier to how they trade with us but it could mean that it is a perceived barrier and they think it is easier to trade within the EU and leave the UK out of it. We certainly don't want that.'
The panel, which also included Lucie Caswell from the Featured Artists Coalition and Proper Music's Vangel Vlaski, agreed that while it is difficult to predict what the future for the industry looks like post-Brexit, the referendum decision has created great uncertainty for the music industry as well as wider UK economy.
Vangel warned that whatever outcome is agreed, the greatest impact is likely to be felt at grassroots level where margins are already tightest.
Read our recent feature from PRS for Music's Ali Condron on the work taking place to ensure songwriters get a fair hearing at the Brexit negotiating table.
Read all our content from the Great Escape 2017.
