EU Parliament votes on music licensing

March 14, 2007 BRUSSELS - The European Parliament today voted for binding legislation on the online music market, but warned that collective online licensing should be opened up gradually. The European members of parliament said that a "big bang" opening of online licensing would hurt the wider European music sector, as it would lead to market domination by just a handful of major rights holders. The Parliament report, drafted by Hungarian socialist Katalin Levai, called on the European Commission to revise its plans to open up the market or risk wiping out dozens of collective rights managers (CRMs), as well as less profitable local and minority repertoires.

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