The European parliament today endorsed tougher rules granting artists more copyright protection for their works downloaded from the internet.
Backers said the new law will spell the end of music-sharing websites like Napster in Europe - just days after a US court ordered the service to put a stop to the free-for-all swapping of copyrighted material.
The new EU rules tighten the definition of "private copy" and ban commercial use of copied material taken from the internet.
They also allow people to copy music - or any other data from the internet - for their own use and to share with friends provided the rightholder gets "fair compensation".
The bill leaves it to national governments to decide how to implement that. Some have already enacted fees on such things as blank CDs to cover payments to artists.
The bill's author, Italian socialist Enrico Bosselli, said the new rules "were a major step forward for rights holders." The days of Napster-like websites enabling free copying of music without paying royalties are over, he said.
Internal market commissioner Frits Bolkestein, speaking for the EU's executive body, praised the parliament for preserving the bill's "delicate balance of interests". It said it should "bring European copyright rules into the digital age... [to] facilitate the development of electronic commerce and so increase the competitiveness of the European economy."
The vote came after a last rush of conflicting appeals from both music stars demanding better protection of their rights to music and lyrics and telecommunications companies, CD makers and consumers groups urging a more liberal approach.
The music industry, including labels such as EMI, Virgin, Warner and Universal, welcomed Wednesday's vote. The association of European telecommunications network operators said it was pleased that calls for copyright fees for streaming - the technique that lets users see video or hear music on the internet without downloading it - were left unheeded.
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Useful links
Napster
World Intellectual Property Organisation
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