Fifties and Sixties stars back MW term petition: British hitmakers fear loss of royalty income once copyright term expires.(Campaign)

With time rapidly ticking down on their sound recording copyrights, veteran British hitmakers from the Fifties and Sixties have added their voices to Music Week's Extend The Term! campaign.

Those creative men and women who arguably have the most to lose, if the Government does not increase the term in sound recordings from the present 50 years, have damned the current state of affairs which means copyright protection in the UK lags behind much of the rest of the world.

Many of those who first played on records in the Forties, Fifties and Sixties--and have lost copyright or are about to see work fall into the public domain--are rallying behind the recently-launched MW petition to put pressure on Andrew Gowers.

They complain a loss of control, loss of earnings and an erosion of standards when their material passes out of copyright and can be picked up and used by anyone.

Joe Brown, who cut his teeth playing guitar with Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran in the Fifties, will see his first record, the 1959 track People Gotta Talk, fall out of copyright in a few short years. He says, "That's not on at all, especially when people are still alive. I think it should be 'til death do us part."

Clem Cattini--a former member of Johnny Kidd & The Pirates and The Tornados--is also "100% behind the MW campaign". The 68-year-old drummer, who played on Telstar and a string of big hits, adds, "What you are doing is spot on. Shakin' all Over was released in 1960, so it [losing copyright] is coming up very close for me. It is like buying a house and then after 50 years it is suddenly not yours."

Cattini also points out that many musicians had relied on that royalty because it was only recently that non-featured musicians began receiving money from radio plays. "The royalties were like a little pension for me, he adds.