Jo Dipple, CEO of UK Music spoke to members at the MU’s 36th Delegate Conference about our private copying exception win, the value of collective action, and relationship between UK Music and the MU.
What is UK Music and what do they do? "We have 3 main roles" said Jo, "representation to government, research, and skills and training through the UK Music Skills Academy. Just as union offers the power of the collective, so UK Music offers the power of a unified voice".
The MU is a member of UK music. "The MU offers the benefit of collective action, to be stronger in Union then you are on your own. Never has that collective strength been more important than in challenging the UK Government over copyright reform ," Jo told Conference.
"Without the MU, the industry would not be able to challenge government," said Jo on the High Court’s recent decision to overturn the private copying exception that had no mechanism for fair compensation, and extended to cloud services. "This win cannot be underplayed…. The Judge said in his decision ‘In my judgement, the inferences drawn in the updated impact assessment about de minimis harm are not remotely supported by the evidence which the defendant, Government, asserts.’ He goes on, ‘The decision to introduce Section 28b in an absence of compensation mechanism is unlawful’. So the Government legislation is not remotely supported by evidence. How much more damming can a judgement get?"
Fairness and value are fundamental principles. "Members of the Musicians’ Union, you must be treated fairly and you must be offered value for your rights…. I give you a guarantee that UK Music will defend the value of your work and it will fight for your right to get fair treatment…. There is a vast value gap between the music you make and the money you get paid.
"Professional consent matters" said Jo. "You did not give consent to have your music consumed for free. You did not give consent to have YouTube suck the value of your music from your returns. And we did not give our consent to Government to introduce a bad piece of copyright legislation."
Check out our Delegate Conference highlights on Storify. Find out more about UK Music and the work we do with them at www.ukmusic.org. And if you have any questions about our democracy or an industry issue, get in touch with your Regional Office.