Gowers' powers on the wane.

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham speaks exclusively to MW about a possible repositioning of Government policy

Exclusive

The UK Government has made the startling revelation that it no longer considers Gowers the last word on copyright term and is ready to revisit the issue of performer protection.

In an exclusive interview the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport Andy Burnham told Music Week that he is now willing to have another dialogue on copyright term and refuses to "dig in" behind Andrew Gowers' controversial findings, which suggested that there should be no extension to the current 50 years' protection for recordings.

Although he draws short of writing off the Gowers recommendations on term completely, Burnham states that the recent EC proposal to almost double the copyright protection for European performers has "kicked off an important debate that we now have to have within Government".

Burham says, "I personally welcome this debate. I've got an open mind about it. I can see the merit in what [EC Internal Market Commissioner] Charlie McCreevy is proposing... I think what I am saying is I'm not digging in behind [Gowers]. We are not digging in behind that position. I come in with an open mind about it."

Burnham's comments are succour to the industry, which since Gowers published his Review in December 2006 has felt ...