LONDON, April 30 (UPI) -- British musical performers are trying to convince Parliament to extend the copyright limit for sound recordings.
The 50-year protection limit affects musicians and their families who depend on royalty payments from the sale or airplay of songs they recorded. The rule does not affect songwriting royalties, the Times of London reported Monday.
The wife of the late Lonnie Donegan, whose performance of "Cumberland Gap" inspired the first British beat groups, said performance royalties from his songs are between $60,000 and $80,000 a year.
"His recordings of 'Rock Island Line' and 'Cumberland Gap' are effectively worthless once the copyright term ends," Sharon Donegan, his wife, said. It's not even as though they made us rich. People say I must be a millionaire but, no, the royalties were just enough to get by."
She is lobbying Parliament, hoping for a favorable review of the copyright terms, has loaned "Cumberland Gap" to a CD that highlights the problem. "Copyright Gap" features British music from the past 50 years and was compiled by Phonographic Performance, which collects broadcast royalties for 40,000 musicians.
The Beatles, The Who, the Kinks and the Jam are among bands that donated tracks to the CD.
