 |
| Mike Weatherley |
Mike Weatherley MP has welcome the UK's Intellectual Property Office's report into criminal penalties for copyright crimes. Weatherley had highlighted the disparity between penalties for offline and online copyright infringement, with copyright crimes leading to up to ten years custody for physical piracy - but a maximum of two years if the crime takes place online. The IPO has confirmed this and has now suggested that UK copyright law should be amended so that serious online copyright infringement is treated in a similar way to offline activities that those activities result in similar levels of harm to copyright owners. Responding to Weatherley, who had previously been Prime Minister David Cameron's advisor on IP, IP Minister Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe wrote: "I am writing to update you on the study commissioned by the Intellectual Property Office into criminal sanctions available for online copyright offences. I know that you have taken a keen interest in this matter and that you have pressed for action to be taken to address what you felt was an anomaly in the level of penalties available for online copyright offences" adding "Given the uncertainty surrounding the potential impact brought by the increase to custodial sentences, the Government agreed to commission an independent review of the issue. In assessing the need to amend legislation, researchers have since analysed a range of a conviction data, consulted with a range of stakeholders, and considered the impact of recent interventions in this area" although she then added "The report points towards there being some logic to increasing custodial sentences for serious online copyright offences. However it does emphasise the need for appropriate safeguards to ensure ordinary members of the public, whose copying is not motivated by criminal intent, are not inadvertently caught by any amended provision".
Welcoming the IPO's report, Weatherley told reporters: "It is encouraging that evidence shows the need for legislation to change in order to harmonise penalties for physical and online offences. Bringing about this change has required significant pressure on Government, but I am pleased that this report once again entrenches the fact that the UK is leading the way on IP enforcement".
Weatherley went on to say: "I hope that the Government after the next election will ensure that the recommendations in the report are adopted and that overdue changes in legislation are on the horizon. Additionally, I believe that the introduction of an IP Director General would hugely benefit the UK and be an important figure for international IP collaboration".
Mike Weatherley MP, The co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Ticket Abuse and organiser of the 'Rock The House' talent contest, has written the UK's Chancellor Of The Exchequer, George Osborne, requesting tax breaks for small and medium sized live venues. The letter comes in the wake of an interim report published by the Music Venue Trust outlining the significant challenges threatening the survival of many live music venues. In a statement, Weatherley said of his letter: "Supporting live music venues is essential if we want to protect our musical heritage. Britain produces some of the best music in the world and it contributes hugely to our economy. I will continue to push for support for live music venues and hope that the Chancellor will seriously consider tax breaks or other financial incentives in order to support this important industry". The letter itself reads: "As you know, our music industry is an enormous asset to Britain both culturally and financially. At the heart of this success story are the incredibly valuable live music venues. I do not think that we can overestimate the value that live music brings to the lives of millions of people". Weatherley's letter continues "Unfortunately, for many reasons it is becoming harder for smaller live music venues to be financially viable and, as a result, alarmingly the number of venues is going down. Quite simply, the support of government and local authorities is key to the success of live music venues" adding "There is precedence of successful tax breaks for bands playing overseas and in other areas of entertainment (theatre/opera, for example, who also enjoy tax breaks and financial incentives), but not for the small and medium sized live music venues, which are the bedrock of all creative music talent" and "Given the importance of live music venues in the career development of musicians and to our economy, I hope that you will seriously consider the introduction of tax breaks or other financial incentives in order to help stem the national challenges faced by live music venues".
The Chancellor has already announced a scheme to give tax breaks to touring orchestras.
Festival Insights reports that Volt Festival in Hungary has launched a campaign to make the event more environmentally-friendly. Called GreenFestival, the scheme sees festival-goers given a GreenFestival bag when they get their FestiPay card, by giving a mandatory deposit of 500HUF. The ones who gather and return their waste will not only get back the deposit, but also receive a certificate of merit and a T-shirt coupon worth 500HUF. A spokesman said the aim of this campaign is to show the audience that they are the source of action when it comes to saving the environment.
Crawl Promotions, the company behind North London's long-standing multi-venue music festival The Camden Crawl, has been put into liquidation by its organisers a week and a half after the event's 2014 edition and it seems that many of the bands who performed this year will lose money. An official statement issued via the Camden Crawl website this morning reads: "Due to ticket sales falling far short of expectations for this year's event, Crawl Promotions Ltd, the Company which promotes the Camden Crawl, is unable to pay its debts in full to any suppliers, staff or the Company's directors and shareholders. As it stands the total debts substantially exceed the value of the assets of the Company. Because of this completely unanticipated situation and after nearly ten years of successfully promoting the Camden Crawl festival, it is with great regret and sadness that there has been no other option than to convene meetings for the purpose of placing the Company into Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation". An Insolvency Practitioner has been appointed and Meetings of Shareholders and Creditors are scheduled for the 11th July 2014.
Mike Weatherley MP, who has been particularly vocal on music business and intellectual property issues in his time in parliament, has announced he will not re-stand at next year's General Election. The member of parliament for Hove and Portslade since 2010, Weatherley worked in both the music and film industries before entering politics. He has been very involved in the All Party Parliamentary Groups on music and ticketing, and last year became IP Advisor to Prime Minister David Cameron as well as running the 'Rock The House' band competition which saw winners play live in the Speakers Rooms at the House of Commons in London. Having recently had a battle against cancer, Mike said: “This has been an exceptionally difficult decision to make. It has been a remarkable opportunity to represent the wonderful residents of Hove and Portslade in Parliament and I look forward to continuing to do this until the election near year.”
A heartless festival goer has left behind a DOG at the Glastonbury Festival. The white lurcher was found in one of the 5,000 tents abandoned after the iconic Somerset festival ended. The dog was renamed 'Dolly' after Glastonbury headliner Dolly Parton and Dolly is now recovering at the Happy Landings animal shelter in Pylle, Somerset - and rescue workers are looking for answers. A spokesperson said: "She is a sweet-natured older lurcher, and clearly very stressed to find herself in this predicament" adding "We had hoped that an owner would come forward but there has still been nothing" and "How anyone could do such a thing is beyond me". Dolly was found by Wookey grandfather Colin Williams who found lonely Dolly in a stifling hot tent. Mr Williams had been let on the Glastonbury Festival site on Tuesday morning to collect an abandoned tent for his grandchildren to play in and he confirmed the dog had been left with some food and probably a small amount of water. The Glastonbury Festival does not allow dogs on site.
On Wednesday 15th October 2014, ADE and ID&T present the second edition of ADE Green which will take place at a brand new location; de Brakke Grond, Amsterdam. Expect an afternoon filled with interactive panels and discussions that will leave you full of new ideas, workshops on how to get your hands dirty to help create a more climate-friendly future for your event, as well as inspiring folks who will share their experiences, ideas and knowledge with you. ADE Green is accessible with an ADE 1-Day Ticket, or a 5-Day Conference Ticket or buy a ADE Green conference ticket. .ADE Green is a collaboration between ID&T and ADE, supported by EE MUSIC, GO Group which AGreenerFestival is part of, Germany's Green Music Initiative and Julie’s Bicycle. The first two confirmed speakers are music icon and entrepreneur, Michael Lang - best known for co-creating and producing the original 1969 Woodstock Festival - and top-chart dj Nicky Romero. They will be touching upon the role of the dance community in social change.
Construction is underway on the Royal Opera House’s new Costume Centre at High House Production Park. Designed by Nicholas Hare architects, the Centre will join the Bob and Tamar Manoukian Production Workshop – where all the ROH’s sets and scenery are made – on the 14-acre site in Thurrock. The Costume Centre is a partnership between the Royal Opera House, South Essex College and Thurrock Borough Council with support from the East of England European Regional Development Programme and the Foyle Foundation. It will house all the costumes for opera and ballet productions currently in the repertory, which will enable the stock to be managed more efficiently, as well as reducing road mileage, transport costs and carbon footprint. The site will also house costumes obsolete productions so that designers may reuse or refashion costumes. The costumes will be kept in carefully controlled conditions to ensure they are properly conserved. The building itself will be of the highest environmental standards, set to achieve BREEAM excellent status, best practice in sustainable building design.
Festival Insights reports that for the third year in a row the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio has set an all-time Billboard Boxscore record for gross ticket sales. The festival is produced by Goldenvoice Presents, a division of AEG Live.
The weekend following Coachella, Goldenvoice produced the Stagecoach country music festival, which drew 63,400 per day for a total attendance of 190,200. The total gross for Stagecoach was $18,615,000, with headliners Eric Church, Jason Aldean, Luke Brian, Brantley Gilbert, Hunter Hayes, and Florida Georgia Line. The combined three weekends at the Empire Polo Grounds saw a total of 769,000 paid, resulting in a gross of $96,947,000. In Denmark more guests than ever visited this year’s Roskilde Festival, where more than 100,000 people gathered for a week-long celebration of music, art, manifestations and creative kinship. Roskilde Festival’s spokeswoman, Christina Bilde says: “It will be a few months before we know the final economic result, but with more than 100,000 tickets sold and great numbers coming in from the drinks and food sales, we are very positive in our expectations. We expect to be able to donate approximately €2.5m to charity and cultural purposes after this year’s festival. And in Finland, Ruisrock attracted a new record number of visitors this weekend when 93,000 people attended the event over the weekend.
Tickets are now on sale for the 11th UK Festival Awards and Festival Conference, which returns to London’s Roundhouse for the fourth year running on the 1st December 2014. http://www.festivalawards.com/
Singer and broadcaster, Cerys Matthews, best known as the lead singer of Welsh rock band Catatonia is launching a new festival, due to take place in September. The Good Life Experience will be “dedicated to celebrating the great outdoors” with axe-throwing, archery, abseiling, wood-fires and rabbit skinning, among the activities on offer.
The Libertines' reunion show at London's Hyde Park was interrupted twice due to crowd surges and crushing. During the second song of the set, a rendition of 'Boys In A Band', The Libertines had to halt their performance after security came on stage at the AEG promoted and Barclaycard presented British Summer Time event, attempting to stop the energetic crowd from being crushed at the barriers. 38 fans were injured and 8 treated in hospital. Singer Pete Doherty shouted to the crowd: "We can't carry on if you don't calm down a bit." Medical officers and security staff rushed to help people crushed at the front, and the photographer Leon Neal tweeted: "Chaos at the Libertines gig in Hyde Park. Many crushed with medics dragging people from the crowd." The Libertines have announced two more shows on 27th and 28th September at London's Alexandra Palace.
