Wednesday, November 29, 2006

European Union Copyright Reform is a War of the Worlds

Helena Spongenberg in her 29.11.2006 EUobserver.com article

MEPs push for new copyright law in digital era

quotes Pia Raug, spokeswoman collective rights management lobby CISAC, who says about the current situation of copyright law in the European Union, that:

"It's a war of the worlds"

on issues such as digital rights management (DRM), collective rights management, and private copy levies.

Spongenberg writes:

"Interest in copyright reform is being sparked by explosive growth in the digital music market which is set to become a €3.9 billion a year industry in the EU by 2011, but which is throwing up new challenges both for independent artists trying to exploit the new medium and the companies trying to make money from downloading songs. "

How right she is. We ourselves have uploaded our musical compositions and performances to Kaulinsium at MySpace in order to participate in this new 21st century "gold rush". Happy listening.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

EU 50th Anniversary Logo : Togetherness

In the competition for the 50th anniversary logo of the European Union, the three top logo selections from a field of 10 finalists resulting out of 1700 entries are featured at the EU site of the Logo Competition 2006.

The winning logo was designed by Szymon Skrzypczak of Poland (bio). Here is the original English language version of the logo which we have reduced to 25% of the size of the original logo as found on the EUROPA Audiovisual Service website:


That logo now is to appear as the 50th anniversary logo of the EU in each of the official languages of the European Union Member States plus candidates:
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Original version

English version

French version

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German version

Italian version

Spanish version

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Greek version

Portuguese version

Dutch version

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Danish version

Finnish version

Swedish version

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Czech version

Estonian version

Latvian version

click to download click to download click to download
Lituanian version

Hungarian version

Maltese version

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Polish version

Slovakian version

Slovenian version

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Bulgarian version

Romanian version

Gaelic version

ALL the various language logos are accessible at the European Union's EUROPA Audiovisual Service. Click on the logo or the language version above to get to the actual original graphic of the logo online which is substantially larger than the thumbnail versions above.

The motivation of the jury in selecting this logo was as follows:

"In line with Plan D this logo gives a graphic interpretation to the voice of all Europeans, especially the new generations. These Europeans look for peace, stability and prosperity without taking anything away from their rights of individuality and diversity. The word “together” expresses in a simple and immediate way what was originally bound to the idea of Europe: not only politics, or money, or geographic boundaries, but most of all co-operation and solidarity. And furthermore it aims to stress that despite all of our differences, we are celebrating 50 years of peace as one community. The different letters, using different typefaces, express the diversity in European history and culture and are kept “together” by the meaning of the word itself. Also, being based on one word, the logo can easily be adapted to every language and still keep its power as a sign, as a symbol because of the different typefaces used. The irony inspired by fashion labels is well suited to a single outstanding activity such as the celebration of the 50th anniversary. The sub-line “SINCE 1957” is an essential part of this irony, and most importantly the main link to the Treaty of Rome. The logo can be adapted to a wide variety of media and can be used effectively both in colour and in monochromatic versions. For a better usability however, the expert jury recommends that particular attention be paid to the sequence and shades of colours and to the use of specific phonetic symbols. For the sub-line “SINCE 1957” the use of a European typeface is advised. But this is general advice for all the 3 best proposals considering Europe’s rich tradition in type design and excellence in this field. A further recommendation is to provide an application manual for the logo, in order to ensure its correct application in every situation and to give specific rules on how the logo should interact properly with the EU identity."