http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/n...copyrights.ars
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The Council of the European Union, where the various member state governments all have a say, voted yesterday (PDF) without discussion to increase the copyright term in sound recordings from 50 to 70 years. Small countries like Belgium, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden voted against the extension, but it passed anyway.
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I thought things were supposed to trend the other way? Decreasing?
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The UK's Open Rights Group called the measure "a cultural disaster… Research showed that around 90 percent of the cash windfall from copyright levies will fall into the hands of record labels." The group also pointed out that the the UK's own government-commissioned reports on intellectual property had been skeptical of extending copyright protection—though there's a long history of ignoring expert opinion on this topic.
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Are books next on the list for extension?