The directive extending the term of protection of the rights of performers and phonogram producers on music recordings within the EU from 50 to 70 years has been adopted by the Council. However, it has been approved with the vote against from the Belgian, Czech, Dutch, Luxembourg, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian and Swedish delegations and the Austrian and Estonian delegations were abstained.

The Directive of the European Parliament and the European Council amending Directive 2006/116/EC on the term of protection of copyright and certain related right has been adopted by qualified majority by the Council. This decision extends the term of protection of the rights of performers and phonogram producers on music recordings within the EU from 50 to 70 years. The directive also foresees measures in order to ensure that artists who have transferred their exclusive rights to phonogram producers actually benefit from the term extension and may recuperate their rights subject to certain conditions.

According to a press release, the Council adopted this Directive to increase the level of protection of performers by acknowledging their creative and artistic contributions. Performers generally start their careers young and the current term of protection of 50 years often does not protect their performances for their entire lifetime. Therefore, the EU has extended this protection from 50 to 70 years. The European Parliament gave its agreement to this Directive previously on April 2009.

Additionally, the directive harmonises the method of calculating the term of protection of songs and other musical compositions with words created by several authors. The term of protection will expire 70 years after the death of the last person to survive: the author of the lyrics or the composer of the music. Member states will have to incorporate the new provisions into their national legislations within two years.