EU, U.S. OK Copyright Payment Deal December 18, 2001 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 1:27 p.m. ET
GENEVA (AP) -- The United States and the European Union announced Tuesday they had agreed on a compensation deal for European musicians affected by a U.S. copyright law that has been ruled illegal.
EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said the agreement ``will bring smiles to Irish eyes in the Christmas season.'' Irish musicians' groups had been the most worried by the law.
Under the agreement, the United States will make a financial contribution to support projects and activities for the benefit of European music creators, Lamy said.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick will ask the administration seek funding from Congress for the three-year project.
World Trade Organization experts last year declared part of the 1998 U.S. Copyright Act illegal because it exempts most bars, restaurants and shops from the obligation to pay royalty fees for music they play.
European music groups had estimated they were losing $27 million a year because of the law, but a WTO arbitration panel set the figure at $1.1 million.
Lamy told reporters that the new agreement was a temporary solution and did not remove the need for Washington to change the law.
The WTO had given the United States until Dec. 31 or the end of the current session of Congress, whichever is sooner, to bring its law into conformity with WTO rules, but it seems unlikely that the deadline will be met.
The agreement means Brussels will not press forward with its right under WTO law to seek trade sanctions against the United States, though Lamy stressed that the EU retained the right to go back to the WTO in the future.
``This is a good example of how we can manage our problems in a cooperative manner, while keeping in mind our international obligations and commitments,'' he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-WTO-Copyrights.html?ex=1009712202 &ei=1&en=6aa4272a3fc4c45a
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