Roger Daltry of The Who and Brian May of Queen are among rock and pop stars making a public attack on internet search engines such as Google for helping users get access to pirated copies of their music.
Roger Daltry of The Who and Brian May of Queen are among rock and pop stars making a public attack on internet search engines such as Google for helping users get access to pirated copies of their music.
Elton John, Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin are other leading musical figures who have signed a letter to The Daily Telegraph calling for more action to tackle the illegal copying and distribution of music. Other signatories include Simon Cowell, the producer and creator of The X Factor, and two leading rap artists - Professor Green and Tinie Tempah.
The letter, which will also be sent to Prime Minister David Cameron this week, highlights the role that search engines can play in giving people access to illegal copies. Search engines must "play their part in protecting consumers and creators from illegal sites", the signatories say, adding that broadband companies and online advertisers must also do more to prevent piracy.
The intervention is the latest phase of a public row between the British music industry and Google, the world's biggest internet search engine.
The BPI, the music industry body, has accused Google of making it easy for users to find links to filesharing websites where they can download pirated music freely.
Google denies supporting piracy and says it removes millions of links a month from its listings after requests from music publishers.
The stars' letter also urges the British Government to move more quickly to implement antipiracy laws passed two years ago.
The 2010 Digital Economy Act set out plans to send people downloading pirate material sent warning letters and potentially have their internet access cut off, but those plans will not be implemented until 2014.
The stars' letter points out that the London Olympics will put new global attention on Britain's creative industries, and argues that the country is well-placed to increase its exports from the music industry. "We can realise this potential only if we have a strong domestic copyright framework, so that UK creative industries can earn a fair return on their huge investments creating original content," the signatories say, calling for illegal activity online to be "pushed to the margins".
"The simplest way to ensure this would be to implement swiftly the long overdue measures in the Digital Economy Act 2010 and to ensure broadband providers, search engines and online advertisers play their part in protecting consumers and creators from illegal sites."
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}