EU presses for cross-border online music licences

LONDON (Reuters) - A key European Union official wants to simplify the way music is licensed to online services such as Apple's iTunes, warning that Europe will fall behind unless cross-border licences are created.

"Europe's model of copyright clearance belongs more to the 19th century than to the 21st," said Charlie McCreevy, European Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services, in remarks prepared for a speech in London on Friday.

"Once upon a time it may have made sense for the member state to be the basic unit of division. The internet overturns that premise," he said.

Starting an online music service in Europe currently requires the consent of dozens of licence holders in each country: record labels, royalty collection societies, music publishers, and in some cases from the artists themselves.

The resulting lengthy negotiations pushed back the launch of services such as iTunes and Napster by months, and some popular US music services such as Yahoo have yet to appear in Europe in part because of licensing red tape.

McCreevy said he planned to introduce a proposal "based on the premise that territory-by-territory management of copyright clearance is too cumbersome and too costly".

"It is not efficient for content users and it does not serve the interests of right-holders who want their content disseminated as widely as possible," he said.

"In a territory-by-territory model, the weakest link in the chain will hold up the quick and effective roll-out of their latest creative content."